


Life Goes On

by transtwinyards



Series: Life Goes On [1]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Depression, F/F, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Profanity, bit of a shit title, didn't tag the jasiper bc it wasn't really explicit, it's not a Nico-centric fic if it's not partially depressing lbr, post-BoO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-12 19:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3353279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transtwinyards/pseuds/transtwinyards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life goes on after the war and Nico tries to settle into Camp Half-Blood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Three Days House Arrest

**Author's Note:**

> Worked super hard on this first chapter, stayed up extra late, and didn't study on that stupid quiz bee. Multiple arguments between aplatonicjacuzzi and I have happened and I've been writing this for months.
> 
> Please comment!

Nico felt inexplicably rejuvenated after finally telling Percy. After high-fiving Annabeth. And he was _slightly_ pleased with the fact that he left _the_ Percy Jackson in shambles over something as simple as a crush.

Well, let’s not push it with “simple”; the crush was important to him after all. That and it involved Percy and the words ‘you’re cute but you’re not my type’. Most people would be surprised by having Nico starting a normal conversation with them. They’d probably be in shambles too, if Nico called _them_ cute.

Solace fell into his gait as they made their way to the infirmaries. For some unbearable reason, he felt like skipping instead of walking. He resisted the thought.

“What was that all about?” Solace asked, putting his hands in his pockets, trying to look like he wasn’t weirded out by Nico’s behavior. Nico could see right through it.

Nico gave a small smile, the most he could manage, and held his head high. He felt like skipping but he’s passed his ‘things that people don’t normally expect Nico to do’ quota for today. “I don’t have to tell you _anything_ , Solace.”

Ugh, the _feeling_ is so freeing. He felt like he could take on an entire monster army, now more than ever. It sure beats wanting to skip.

They fell into a silence that Nico didn’t quite read as awkward. He didn’t care, he was on cloud nine right now.

“So….” Solace stretched the word out, a teasing tone in his voice. “Three days house arrest?”

 _There’s_ the killjoy moment. Nico threw Solace a look. Solace shrugged, a smile tugging at the side of his lips. He had a dimple. Nico immediately felt like rolling his eyes and walking away.

He didn’t know why he didn’t do just that to begin with.

“No guarantees. I actually feel like I can fight a thousand monsters at once right now,” Nico stated, choosing to look ahead. He wasn’t sure if Solace heard that but Nico hoped he did. That wasn’t a statement he could say over and over again. He didn’t aim to make it so.

It’s Solace’s turn to give him a look. He didn’t have to look behind him to feel that glare burning a hole through the back of his head. Apollo kids always hit their marks. Nico smirked and walked faster into the infirmaries.

“I’ll start it in two days tops, Solace. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Nico threw the empty promise over his shoulder. He didn’t care, he was still a bit too happy with himself.

The day went by with checking up on patients, confirming deaths, and waiting for the Apollo kids and the mourners to prepare their vases for the ashes. Chiron set up to contact the parents of the dead to inform them of the giving of ashes.

Nico didn’t want to elaborate but mostly because he wasn’t sure what happened that day. He was convinced that everyone was going to start to ignore him, like they had before. Because really, he only delivered the Athena Parthenos and ceased the coming of the second Greco-Roman demigod war. And got trapped in a vase for months.

But these kids were new, Nico could tell. Not really _got-here-a-day-ago_ new but, new enough that no one warned them about the Hades spawn that they had around camp.

A group of ten year olds, pushing each other around, going ‘no, _you_ do it’.  They approached him in the middle of a small break. Preparing pyres for demigods wasn’t really the easiest job in the world. Nor was it the best. But _someone_ had to give them proper burial rites.

They awkwardly compressed in a tight, nervous group. Nico noticed it from a mile away. They weren’t exactly trying to hide from him. Together, they thanked him for doing the rites and gave him a Camp Half-Blood hoodie.

He looked at it like it just upped and started talking to him. Luckily, it didn’t really. But he was still shocked. He almost muttered a thanks but shook himself out of it.

“No problem.” He said, and it sounded terse and kind of harsh. If they heard the response, they didn’t show it, just went back to being how they were. Just like any other camper. But the thought stuck.

Nico went to hang the hoodie up in his cabin before going back to work.

Later, he checked up on Jason, who asked if he had wanted a hug. The older teen had been left hanging by his cabin this morning. Nico apologized, but Jason insisted that it was okay. Nico wasn’t convinced in the slightest but Jason let the subject go.

Nico complied at Jason’s request, making himself hug back when Jason stepped forward to embrace him. There was less squeezing this time, and less giddiness from Jason. Just comfort and Nico letting his tiredness seep from Jason to the ground like the world’s first human emotional conductor.

Nico sighed something drained and heavy. Sometimes, living with the dead was easier than confirming and mourning them.

It wasn’t the best day in his life, but it was one of his better days.

***FIRST DAY***

Nico sat on a table, watching Solace give a kid a cup of ambrosia and a roll of bandages.

He sipped on his cup of Coke, the cold water on the cup dripping on his jeans. It’s been a while since he’s had a McDonald’s meal from the branch nearest to Half-Blood Hill. The guy at the counter recognized him like it’s only been months since he’s visited the branch.

 _Oh,_ Nico thought, _it_ was _only a few months_. He pushed the thought aside. After all, time passes by when you live in a world not everyone knows about.

He wiped his hand on his jeans, not liking that his palms were getting wet. He looked up at Solace’s confused face, who had walked up to him while he was zoning out. He gave his driest ‘what do you want?’ look in return.

“Where did you get that?” he asked, wiping his hands down on his own jeans in an effort to clean them off... it smelled of cologne and unicorn draught. _Solace wears cologne?_ Nico refrained from thinking about it.

“Wouldn’t _you_ want to know?” Nico deadpanned, taking another sip.

“Seriously, where’d you get it?” Solace demanded, sitting next to Nico on the table. Nico moved away, slightly annoyed by Solace’s lack of personal space. Seriously, has he ever heard of it? Was that not a thing that existed in his vocabulary?

“The Stolls gave me a deal,” Nico lied. He wasn’t just gonna tell Solace that he made a little jump to a fast food restaurant because he was craving fries and a Happy Meal. What with his three day probation and/or house arrest, and the fact that he almost collapsed after doing it. He sipped his Coke with a purpose. It was _so_ worth it.

Thankfully, Solace took the bait.

“You’re _so_ informative sometimes, you know? _Very_ helpful.” Solace rolled his eyes and extended his hand in front of Nico’s drink.

Nico looked at the hand like it had offended him. Solace didn’t seem to care. But if he noticed, he persistently kept it in front of Nico.

“Can I take a sip?” Solace asked, finally, leaning back on the tent’s side, slipping, then leaning on his other hand. _Smooth_.

“What in Hades makes you think I’ll give it to _you_?” Nico replied, sipping faster on his drink. Maybe he could squeeze his way out of this situation if he drank fast enough that by the end of it, Solace had nothing to take from him but a plastic cup of ice.

“Well, _first_ of all, I’m not gonna tell Chiron on you and the Stolls,” Solace offered in a tone that said ‘I might’.

Nico pretended like he was considering, resisting the urge to strangle the Apollo kid.

Finally, he gave Solace another dry look. “Like _he’d_ care about the Stolls. They’ve been breaking rules and causing shit since day one, Solace.” He stated as a matter of fact. It was true. The Stolls were known to cause trouble no matter where they ended up.

Since Solace was here with them all of the time, Nico didn’t think it was necessary to tell the Apollo kid that but he did anyway.

“Yeah, but he’d care about _you_!” Solace stated like he’d won their little argument.

Nico wanted to laugh. Seriously? Why would Chiron care about his decisions to buy shit from fast food chains near the camp? Instead, he stared at Solace. The urge to strangle had now reached a sudden level of wanting to whack him on the head with a dog bone. Hard. If he had enough strength to summon one, he’d have done it hours ago and disposed of the body without second thought.

He also resisted the great urge to shout at Solace’s face and slap him over and over again so that he can beat it into the blond’s thick skull that _no one cares about him here_. He remembered their argument near the Hill, in front of Octavian and frowned. Yeah, _definitely_ a wise decision not to mention that.

Instead of indulging his very sudden and strong urge for violence, he stood and left Solace on the table. He left his cup of Coke, no longer feeling thirsty. Or hungry.

Just feeling dumb, like the idea of coming to the infirmary and showing his oh-so _friendly_ face to Solace. He found it easier to lock himself in his room until dawn the next morning.

He fell asleep by three and woke up abruptly in the middle of the night. Then, he chose to light a candle and read. He wasn’t hoping to get any sleep after that.

He fell asleep again until one of the seven, Piper, walked up and into his cabin and told him it was time for breakfast. She didn’t have to use her charmspeak but he appreciated that she cared enough to wake him up for breakfast.

She told him it was okay.

***MID-SECOND DAY***

He wasn’t avoiding Solace. Not at all.

“ _Fucking_ _damn it_ ,” Nico muttered under his breath as Solace passed the branches below. He’s been looking for _hours_. Fortunately, his search didn’t include the ability to look upwards. Why doesn’t this guy just take a hint and _go the fuck away_ , anyway?

Today was the camp’s first annual beach party, prepared solely by the sons of Poseidon and maybe a little help from Frank, Reyna, and Jason.

The Romans came earlier this morning, just quickly after breakfast. Percy’s been chirping about it a week before, Iris-messaging the praetors. They gained Chiron and Dionysus’ approval quickly after. After all, why would the god of parties turn down a party, right?

Chiron believed that the demigods deserved their breaks. The welcome home party wasn’t one he could call a party much since most of the demigods were tired and injured. So, he caved in to their request for a little time off.

Now here Nico was, all the way up a tree, avoiding the bothersome medic. He glared down the trees and cracked the earth a little near Solace’s path. The child of Apollo tripped and Nico _almost_ laughed if it wasn’t for the fact that A) he’s supposed to be quiet and, B) that fucking took _a lot_ out of him. Nico quickly hugged the trunk, since grabbing a branch could have made too much noise.

His ring hitting the wood wasn’t enough to alert Solace, thankfully.

“Oh. Ha _ha_ ,” Solace shouted through gritted teeth. This did little to soothe Nico’s fatigue but at lease it did something. Nico let out a silent, shaky breath.

“Very _funny_ , Nico. Come out before I call your sister.” Solace said in a tone that clearly meant ‘ _you’re fucking dead, kid’_. Nico’s used to these kinds of situations, years of solitude and fending off monsters without back up. As much as he hated it when Hazel heard of him in such situations, he wasn’t risking to get down from the tree and talk to the Apollo kid face to face.

Not after yesterday’s events.

“Alright, that’s _it_ , di Angelo. I’m telling Hazel.” Solace stormed off. Nico watched closely as he stomped off into the beach, in his yellow swimming trunks and fake Ray Bans.

He waited and waited, checking if Solace was just acting like he was storming off then would come back to say _Ha ha! Caught you red handed, di Angelo_. Humiliation wasn’t on his bucket list. Once he confirmed that Solace was gone for good, he climbed down and made a quick walk—if you could call it that, it looked more like he was doing a faster version of the zombie walk—for his cabin.

Minutes later, he wasn’t surprised when Hazel walked into his (their) cabin.

“The medic called. You been avoiding him?” Hazel asked, amusement evident in her tone. Nico stirred in his bed, fuzzy blanket bothering his nose. He got that in his little jump yesterday, wasn’t really too keen on returning to camp looking paler than usual so he went shopping in a nearby flea market. A little treat for himself. More shit to make him fall asleep easier.

Sleep, that sounded _so_ good right now.

But Hazel was still there. _Siblings before naps_ , Nico thought. He sat up, combing a hand through his hair. It’s been getting long. Might need to get something to hold it up. A haircut wasn’t something he wanted to have at the moment. Needed too many words.

Hazel was wearing a yellow one-piece swimsuit under a Camp Jupiter shirt two sizes too large for her. _Frank’s_. She sat down the opposite bunk and rubbed at her thighs. Must be uncomfortable for her to wear something like that.

Nico decided he had to make this quick.

“Not going to swim with us?” she asked, knowing that her brother wasn’t one for social gatherings. Never really was.

“How long are you gonna stay?” Nico asked back. Hazel barely blinked at his question. He felt his cheeks pull up in an effort to smile.

“Just overnight. New Rome needs its praetors. Tomorrow, Reyna’s crew will be here so that she could catch a break,” Hazel explained. “She needs it.”

Nico nodded, she did. He remembered the battle five days ago and nodded again. “She really does.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Nico fiddling with his blanket while Hazel picking at her borrowed shirt.

“I might—I _can_ go out swimming tonight,” Nico stammered. Hazel looked at him, pleasant surprise showing on her features. “Don’t really like getting sunburned. Plus, the water’s the perfect temperature at night.”

Hazel stood with a big smile on her face. Enough to make Nico genuinely smile back. “I’ll see if we can push Dionysus to give us any more favors. And I’ll make sure it’s just us seven,” she reassured. Nico liked that idea, legs unconsciously swinging off the side of his bunk.

“Of course, that’s if most of us aren’t dozing off already. Percy’s causing a ruckus,” Hazel chuckled just in time as Annabeth shouted ‘ _Percy Jackson, I swear on_ every _living thing!_ ’ echoed through Long Island Sound. Then there was a crash of a wave and a roar of laughter, from both Greek and Roman campers.

“You better catch all the fun out there for me, sis,” Nico said, shooing his sister out of the cabin. She laughed, and kissed him on the cheek. Nico stood up to kiss her on the forehead in retaliation. She pulled back with a wave of goodbye and jogged out of the door, her flip flops making wet sounds on the ground. Did that huge wave reach all the way over _here?_

Nico blinked at the damp soil, the smell of the ocean filling his lungs. He shook his head and closed the door. That’ll be a question for tonight. But for now…

Nico appropriately fell face first on his bed and slept like the dead.

* * *

“I really thought he was joking when he said the camp needed a quick bath. Then _this_ idiot made a fucking tidal wave and crashed it all over the camp! The little Roman kids looked scared _shitless_. Then they all started laughing.” Annabeth retold the story around their makeshift campfire. Percy was leaning on the log behind them, playing with her locks.

Nico snorted. “Well, at least we’ll have salted strawberries for a month.” Percy sat up and nudged Annabeth on the shoulder with a mischievous smile.

“See? I _told_ you it was a good idea!” he shouted. The group laughed. Annabeth rolled her eyes and pushed him back, she tried to look mad but the smile on her lips wasn’t helping the image.

“You’re giving him too much credit, Nico,” Annabeth quipped, amusement glinting in her eyes as Percy paused to listen to her. “You know how his head gets all big when you give him credit.”

“Hey!” Percy protested.

Their group erupted into silent laughter and transitioned back into mildly content smiles as Percy and Annabeth stared up at the skies in deep thought.

A dull thrum echoed inside his head as he tried for a content smile at the couple in front of the campfire. He felt like his ribcage was closing in on him. He breathed in, making sure he was okay.

He was. It was gone, he was over it. But no one really got over the first love, right? Cupid could back him up on it, crazy bastard that he was. His greeting card messages (as Jason had put it) were a bit too close to home. Nico’s poor attempt at a smile faded as he exhaled.

Yep, something’s still pulling in there.

Nico silently sat up and headed for the waters. He told Hazel he’d be going for a swim and he will, he decided. Hazel looked up at him from her position, leaning on Frank. She was all tuckered out from her day of fun, a sad, content smile on her face as she and Frank near by the fire.

She and Frank were holding hands, there was a bit of sadness showed in Frank’s smile and hunched shoulders. Nico could see a pouch in their connected hands. A bronze string sticking out from beneath their fingers. Leo’s gift for Frank.

Nico walked off. He’ll let them have their moment.

Jason and Piper were still by the waters, having a little conversation. It ended just as Nico had approached to even hear some of it. Jason had a brooding frown on his face as he stared up at the sky. Nico looked where he was looking and remembered what happened on that exact spot only days ago. A ball of fire erupted and it looked like there was a second sun forming in the horizon. He heard Octavian’s screaming.

Again, it was getting hard to breathe. Nico swore that it was for the better that he didn’t mention or remember it. He couldn’t help feeling guilty anyway. Death was such a familiar concept to him. Mourning was a second contender. But when he was only feeling the latter, it usually didn’t go well with him. Sure, Octavian was a bad guy, but every once and a while, Nico would catch himself thinking, _did he_ really _deserve to die?_

He glanced at Jason, who looked like he was about to cry. He remembered the feeling that came over him, that ability to sense death. There were two of them who died up there. Leo Valdez was smiling to his last breath, Nico supposed. No one really knew, save for Piper and Jason, who were near the incident at the time. Nico knew enough that Leo would have been joking around with them now if he were still here.

“ _C’mon guys, didn’t I always say I wanted to go out with a bang? Eeeh?_ ” he could imagine Leo saying, joking with Jason and Piper. Always wanting to make a joke out of the depressing. Nico could get that. Coping was always different for everyone, he supposed.

He ended up staring at the horizon for a few moments too.

The couple welcomed Nico in the waters once they had noticed him standing there, reassuring him that it wasn’t _that_ cold. Nico knew as much but their reassurances were appreciated.

“How was today?” Nico asked, waist deep into the waters, his usual skeleton shirt clung to him in the warm waters. Jason was obviously trying to float in the water, to no avail. He sunk like a rock, which was ironic to Nico since he was always flying.

“It was good. What happened to you? You were gone most of the day.” Piper responded. Nico stopped when he was neck deep into the water. Nico hummed.

“I was catching up on some sleep,” Nico said, lying down to float on the lukewarm waters. “I sunburn easily so I decided it’d be better at night.” He could hear his voice, words dampened by the water in his ears. He relaxed his breathing.

Piper hummed in acknowledgment. Nico felt water waving onto his face, a little too close to his nose. He popped open an eye to see Jason subtly pushing water onto his face. The blond gave him a nervous, cheeky grin. Calmly, Nico dipped himself under the water and came out squinting and coughing a bit as the salt went up his nose. His hair stuck to his forehead. He pushed it back and looked at Jason.

Then, with a grin, he retaliated, shoving water at Jason’s face. “You trying to drown me, Grace? Huh?” He asked and taunted, continuing to shove water at Jason’s face. Jason was laughing, shielding himself from the onslaught of sea water.

“I give, I give!” Jason surrendered with a laugh, raising his hands up. “I was just—I thought you were showing off because I didn’t know how to float like that.” He was breathing heavily, catching his breath after.

“You should have told me, Sparky.” Piper said, kicking water behind Jason. “I’m like, the second swimming expert here.” Jason gave her a sheepish smile.

“I’ve been trying for the last three minutes, Pipes. You saw me.” Jason pointed out and Nico couldn’t help but laugh at the look Piper gave him.

“ _Hey!_ ” Percy shouted from the campfire. He was standing up. “I heard waves, were you fighting in the water? _Without_ me?!”

“You’ve had enough fun today, Percy. You’re not the only person who can have fun in the waves, y’know,” Annabeth called out. Nico laughed silently to himself, shoulders shaking.

“Aww, but I feel so left out!”

The night went on, and the stars were unusually bright, considering they were a car ride away from the city that never slept.

Nico found himself content when he collapsed into his bed (third time that day) smelling like seawater and cheap soap. The cabin was still empty aside from him. Despite the fact that she was tuckered out, Hazel still made it a point that she and Frank were gonna be together, happy, every waking hour.

Nico wasn’t sure what time they made it back to their own respective cabins and bunks but Nico hoped it was a reasonable time.

Then again, they all slept at 4 in the morning. He wouldn’t know what the reasonable time would be.

***THIRD DAY***

When he woke up at 8 AM from a nightmare, he stared across his cabin and looked at his sister, still asleep. Nico immediately decided that he was gonna spend every minute with his sister before she left for Camp Jupiter. They stayed for brunch, having hushed and comfortable conversations with each other until it was time to say goodbye again.

Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel had a group hug. Piper kept shouting about how she’ll miss her so much and that she has to come to camp as often as possible. Annabeth agreed and told her that if anything happened at Camp Jupiter, Hazel had to contact them right away.

Jason and Percy were giving Frank some tips on rounding up the legion, which seemed strange to Nico since Frank could lead perfectly fine without any guidance from their short-lived praetorships. What he probably needs is a way to properly discipline his fellow legionnaires without turning them over to Reyna.

Then Hazel approached him.

Without missing a beat, he gave his sister a peck on the forehead and she pecked him on the nose in return. Frank gave him a nod and he reminded the praetor about his position as flower boy.

Frank gave him yet another nervous laugh while Hazel punched him affectionately on the arm. Nico was still smiling when their SUV drove off into New York.

Their group had dispersed quickly afterwards, Piper and Annabeth talking animatedly about something (probably the repairs and new cabins and shrines they had to build) while Percy trudged behind them. Jason was standing beside him, looking down the road too.

Nico glanced at the taller boy, one brow raised in question. “You worried about Frank?”

Jason gave him a guilty look. “I don’t really mean to. I mean,” Jason sighed, combing his fingers through his hair. It had grown long, against regulation. Terminus would throw a bitch fit if he saw the former praetor like this. “Frank’s a good guy but sometimes, I really think he’ll cave into the pressure. Not all the Romans liked it when they received news about Octavian, and I’m pretty sure some of them are still calling Frank a klutz.”

Nico understood very well how campers’ minds worked. You give them the seed of doubt and the controversy spreads like wildfire. He’s been in the unfortunate end of that mentality once or twice in his demigod career already.

“He’ll work it out, I’m sure he’ll figure it out by the end of Reyna’s day off anyway,” Nico reassured. Jason glanced at him, the Imperial gold frame of his glasses glinting as the sun reflected onto it.

He turned to Half-Blood Hill, staring up at the Athena Parthenos. Nico can’t help but think how tired he is of looking at it but it stood tall and proud in front of the camp like it belonged there.

He can’t help but think about how freaked out archeologists would be if they could see through the Mist and find this ancient statue that went missing centuries ago standing on some random hill near New York City. He snorted at the thought and walked back into camp grounds.

* * *

He’s in his cabin when there was a knock on the door. Laying down his book with a quick glance at the page, he went for the door and prepared himself for the sudden light he had to adjust to. It had to be either Jason or one of his other close friends. Solace (fortunately) didn’t really come into his cabin. Much less near it. He hoped to keep it that way for the rest of his demigod life.

When he opened the door, he blinked for a second, not believing his eyes.

“Hey there, Nico.” Reyna greeted casually, a soft smile gracing her features. She was wearing a Camp Jupiter shirt.

He remembered that he also bought her a custom-printed shirt from the flea market the other day. An orange one that said ‘There Were Too Many of Them’. The guy who printed it didn’t give a second thought. He needed to give her that later.

Reyna held her arms out for a hug and Nico didn’t even hesitate to hug her. He remembered that night in the camp fire, their first ever hug. One that felt like it had more relief and care. Nico had never felt that from someone who wasn’t Hazel. Plus, they weren’t really that close until they had to make the trip with the statue.

“How’ve you been?” Nico asked first. He’s had a lot of firsts but after Bryce Lawrence… He pushed the memory away and focused on Reyna.

“Haven’t been getting much sleep. There were a lot of things to take care of.” Reyna’s smile dulled, Nico didn’t notice the bags under her eyes before. He blamed it on his eyes, which were still adjusting to the sunlight.

“Octavian left me a mess, but Frank has been a huge help.” Reyna stated, rubbing at her eyes. Nico stepped aside and let her into his cabin. She went in without hesitation. Nico stared at her as she sat down Hazel’s bunk. It’s a weird concept to him, still. The fact that people have that much trust in him that they would go anywhere he suggested.

After the Titan war, it hasn’t been that easy.

He closed the door and sat on his bed and grabbed his book again. Reyna had been looking around from the bunk, hand running on the soft mattress she was sitting on. Nico glanced at the clothes he hung up to the side. The bright-colored tropical shirt from San Juan seeming out of place next to his dark jeans and skeleton shirt (which still smelled like seawater, he should probably wash it).

The hoodies that Camp Half-Blood made were made of some kind of cotton. He chose to wear it with his boxer shorts to bed. It’s the first of many comforts he could find in this camp since Bianca.

He looked back at Reyna, who looked like she wanted the darkness of the interior of his cabin to take her, eyes closed, a sigh escaping her lips. She looked so tired.

“You can take a nap here, if you want. It’s your day off, after all.” Nico spoke up. Reyna looked at him and nodded, taking off her boots and sliding into Hazel’s bed. Soon enough, Reyna was asleep.

* * *

The knock on the door was what woke Nico up. He blinked the tiredness away. Reyna was still out cold. He didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep.

He looked for his book and frowned. It was on the floor, closed. He’d have to look for his page again.

There was another series of knocks that shook him out of his thoughts. This time, more urgent. He stretched as he stood up and padded for the door.

It was Jason. He looked worried. Nico went through his head of all the situations of why Jason would knock at his door for something urgent. He found no answer.

“Hey, uh, have you seen Reyna, by any chance?” Jason asked. He looked like he was panicking. _Ah, okay_.

Nico held a finger up to his lips, telling him to be quiet. He stepped out of his cabin, closing the door behind him. He was still just in his boxer shorts and hoodie but he didn’t care. Jason stepped back to give him some space.

“She’s sleeping in there. Why, are her troops getting restless?” Nico didn’t want to wake the sleeping praetor but, he also knew she wouldn’t like it if Percy or Jason would have to deal with what she was supposed to take care of.

Jason sighed in relief, tension running out of his shoulders. Nico raised a brow at that.

Jason laughed nervously in response. “We were beginning to think she’d up and gone missing. We looked everywhere. We even had to call Hazel but she just asked if we had asked either Piper or you.”

Nico rolled his eyes but a smile tugged at his lips. “Well, don’t worry. She’s just catching up on well-deserved sleep.” He reassured, the words coming out a little dull, not reassuring at all. He really wasn’t used to reassuring other people.

Jason smiled and nodded. “Well, take care of her. And ask her if she wants to take a swim, ‘kay? It was kind of the purpose of the visit anyway.”

“I’ll let her know.” Nico said before retreating into his cabin once more.

Reyna was up, staring at the ceiling. Nico felt the need to apologize for waking her up. It must have been the knocking.

“They were looking for you. They thought you’d gone.” Nico said. She didn’t respond. He didn’t wait for her to. He sat back down on his bed, picking up his book.

“You gonna go for a swim?” Nico asked. Reyna rolled to her side, facing his bed. Her gaze was miles away.

“No, I just,” She sighed, like speaking was taking a bit of an effort out of her. Nico has never seen her like this but he knew enough not to ask. “I just want to rest for the rest of the day.”

Nico hummed in acknowledgement. He knew that feeling. He stood up and grabbed a towel and the shirt he’d bought for her. He placed it in front of her.

“You’d better take a bath, it’ll be time for dinner soon.” Nico said. Reyna sat up and took the pile. Then she smirked at him.

“Are you suggesting that I smell, di Angelo?” She asked, a challenging tone in her voice.

Nico grinned. “I’m not saying _anything_ , praetor. Why would you think that?”

Reyna laughed and threw a pillow at him but she left for the showers anyway.

She returned with a smile on her face. The shirt fit perfectly, much to Nico’s relief.

“You like the shirt? I had it custom-made, two days ago.” Nico asked, a smile on his face. He’d change into his jeans, deciding to keep his hoodie on.

“I love it. Thanks, Nico.” She said as Nico walked out of the cabin.

The mess hall was filled with orange and purple shirts. There was laughter and spilled drinks and someone singing at the top of their lungs. Nico thought it was a little too early for that. They could have saved it for the campfire.

Nico sat down his table, Reyna sat with him. There wasn’t a cabin for Bellona (or Enyo) but Reyna didn’t seem to have any siblings with her today anyway. Or any siblings for that matter.

Over dinner, Reyna talks about Guido, the pegasus who decided to adopt her. About Frank and Hazel getting caught doing couple stuff in unexpected places (Nico stores that in his _must talk about with sister_ folder). She completely avoids talking about the camp’s condition. Nico didn’t want to bring it up since he knew she loved the camp to bits. She must have been having a rough time if she didn’t want to bring it up.

He, again, remembers Bryce Lawrence and the incident surrounding him. Then their conversation stops and drops into companionable silence. Nico can’t help but feel guilty for making her stop talking but decides to wave it off as Reyna not wanting to talk anymore.

But Nico’s stubborn sometimes, he doesn’t want to talk about himself. There’s not much to talk about anyway.

“How are Rachel and Ella doing with the books?” Nico asked. And that seemed to be the right question to ask.

Reyna smiled, as if recalling something that happened. “They’re doing great at translating the books. I’ve been visiting them more recently. They’ve been at it for days so I figured that it might have been time for a little intervention.”

“She’s doing fine now.” She reassured. Reyna talked about Rachel like… well, he couldn’t quite pin it. But he’ll leave that thought for later. He’s just happy to hear that an old friend was doing fine and that Reyna seems happy about it.

The campfire seemed happier now, as compared to days ago. The offerings had some prayers in them now, mostly for Apollo. Friends wanting friends to get better. Some of his kids were praying for luck. His luck.

Jason had told Nico the story of what had happened with Apollo and Zeus. Nico couldn’t help but feel like he should pray for Apollo’s luck too. He didn’t. Apollo was old enough to deal with his own problems. Even the gods had to face their own mistakes.

“Where’s Percy?” Reyna had asked Piper as they sat down the campfire.

“Visiting his mom downtown.” Piper said. “He’s been staying over there since we got home, save for yesterday.”

Nico nodded. Sally was probably worried sick about her only son. He wondered how she’d reacted to what had transpired in the last couple of months. It had been the first time she’d seen him since Percy went missing.

When everyone started settling into the campfire and started singing, Nico left, feeling a little bit too over-socialized, tired. He stood and excused himself, telling Reyna that he’ll be retiring for the night.

In his cabin, he could still hear the singing. He left the door unlocked, maybe Reyna was gonna sleep over again.

There was a knock on the door and then it swung open. Nico sat up from his bed.

“Why’d you leave?” It was Solace. Nico should have known. He regretted leaving the door unlocked. The guy barely even asked if it was okay to enter the cabin, he just strolled in. Nico rolled his eyes.

“Why do _you_ want to know?” Nico responded, hiding under his blanket. Maybe he could shadow-travel away from this conversation.

Silence was his response. Nico sighed and sat up. “Get the fuck out of my cabin, Solace.”

“Why’d you leave?” Solace asked, determined to get an answer.

Nico sighed. “I’m tired, okay? I don’t wanna be outside right now. Or talk to anyone.” He emphasized that last statement, wanting to make it a point that he didn’t want to talk to _anyone_. That includes Solace.

The emphasis and his words fell on deaf ears.

“You’re pushing away again.”

Nico sighed, again, and it was deeper, heavier this time. He felt like his lungs were getting heavier and heavier every second this conversation lasted. “Don’t jump to conclusions, Solace. Seriously, do I _seem_ like an outdoors-y type of person to you?”

Silence answered again. Nico was beginning to think they and Solace were related.

“Just, get the fuck out. I wanna sleep.”

“You kiss your mother with that mouth, di Angelo?” Solace finally responded, trying for a joke. Nico felt the anger rise like bile in his throat.

“ _Get. Out._ ”

He felt the whole cabin shake, the shadows grew darker. Solace made a quick escape. Smart decision.

When the door closed, Nico lied back down on his bed and gave one last sigh. The social tiredness dropped lower into fatigue. He had to control his temper. It didn’t help that his powers were emotionally triggered.

He was unconscious by the time the campers started cleaning up by the campfire.

***HOUSE ARREST LIFTED: FOURTH DAY***

Nico was up at 3 AM, he vaguely recalled a nightmare but by the time his head stopped spinning, he’d forgotten what it was about. Probably a memory. He didn’t want to remember. He lied there for seconds, minutes, hours, his eyes set on the ceiling he couldn’t see in the darkness. He didn’t know. Like the Underworld, time was hard to discern inside his cabin.

Reyna’s still asleep so Nico decided it’d be for the best to take a bath before everyone else woke up. He took his skeleton shirt and jeans from where it hung by his bunk and another spare towel. Maybe if he was lucky enough, he could find an extra shirt in the drawers of his cabin. But that’ll be an adventure for another time.

By the time he got out of the showers, few of the campers were up and running, cleaning their bunks up for orientation. Damp, fingers prune-y, and smelling of cheap soap, Nico trudged back to his cabin, his skin tingling from the time he wasted standing under a showerhead, with his thoughts running a mile an hour. He felt like he could sleep all over again and wake up for dinner.

He decided that that wasn’t a good idea.

Instead, he hung his towel up and grabbed his book, then headed for the docks for a silent place to read.

The sunrise looked great in New York, and Nico decided he wanted to watch the sunrise after spending so much time in the dark corners of his cabin. Maybe it was his former daisy form wanting sunlight for so long, Nico snorted at the thought.

He heard footsteps behind him. He turned to look. Jason was walking up, barefooted.

“You’re up early.” Jason commented, sitting beside him. There are bags under his eyes, not as deep and dark as Nico’s (which kind of look more like bruises), but they’re there. His hair is messy and so are his clothes. Nico looked back down to his book and began to read again. He knew what it was like to be criticized in weak moments like exhaustion. He didn’t want Jason to feel the same way.

“I could say the same to you,” he noted nonchalantly, turning a page. Jason huffed, but it sounded more like a weak laugh.

“You had a nightmare too, huh?” Jason asked, laying down on the dock. He let Nico’s shadow shield his view from the sunrise. Nico didn’t mind but Jason was kinda missing out on how great the view was.

“How’d you guess?” Was it really that obvious? Was he really sagging in constant sleep deprivation or did he just emit it in waves?

“Well, don’t we all? It hasn’t really been _that_ long since Greece. I’m pretty sure most of us seven are awake right now.” Jason stated like he Nico asked him what the answer to ‘one plus one’ was. Nico didn’t deny anything. Or comment on the fact that he wasn’t really part of the seven.

“Right.” Nico replied, but it felt lost in the ambience of the waters lapping over the shore and the winds blowing in from the east.  Nico took a deep breath and let it out, with all of the weight of his earlier nightmare.

Jason was staring up at the sky. He always was.

“How’s being Pontifex going for you? Have you been receiving thank you cards from gods recently?” Nico decided to ask, closing his book. Reading lost its charm once he got someone who he knew was gonna pester him and keep him distracted. He pulls his feet up on the docks, blocking Jason from the sunlight completely.

“You don’t know the half of it. I think some of them even want to date me.” Jason joked, his voice distant. Nico couldn’t tell if his latter statement was that much of a joke.  He made a face

Jason noticed and chuckled. He brought a hand up to weakly pat at Nico’s arm. Normally that would have made Nico uncomfortable but right now, he didn’t mind. “It was a joke. I’d be freaking out if a god started flirting with me.”

Nico blinks then looks back at the rising sun. He remembers Apollo, the Hunters, Artemis, Thalia Grace.

 _Bianca_.

“Y—,” Nico took a deep breath. He couldn’t get it out without his eyes tearing up at the memory of _her_. He stared at the sun, maybe he could fool himself into thinking that the tears were because of staring at the sun. “Did you know that your sister called Apollo hot?”

Jason looked at him. The sun was still in Nico’s eyes even when he turned to look so he was staring in his shadow.

He felt ridiculous, talking about the ridiculously obnoxious sun god and tearing up about his late sister all at the same time.

“I was ten. I was new to all of _this_. Myths being real, gods existing.” Nico continued, twisting his ring in his finger. He avoided the subject of his sister. He instead talked about Jason’s.

“She— _Thalia_ was angry before he arrived. With Percy. They were fighting a lot. Percy tried getting rid of me by giving me to Grover.” Nico didn’t want to keep his head in the past. He wasn’t like Hazel. Blackouts weren’t his thing.

But this was close to it. Close enough.

He didn’t notice that the tears dropped. He didn’t know why he was crying anymore. If Jason noticed, he didn’t say anything. Nico wouldn’t know how to respond either way. He was grateful for the silence.

 _Gods_ , Nico still can’t believe he’s crying while talking about _Apollo_.

“You can’t blame her you know.” Jason said after a moment of silence. Nico wiped at his nose. Great, because he could breathe just _fine_ before. He sniffs, a curious look on his face.

Jason looked at him, a teasing smile on his face. “He _does_ seem hot. I’ve seen him before.”

Nico laughed and coughed as something crackled in his throat. He composed himself before saying, “Don’t let him hear _you_ say that.”

“What? Too much of an ego boost?”

“More like he already has too much of an ego for you to boost. It’s through the roofs.”

They laugh. Nico likes it, doesn’t need to force it. It’s a good laugh. It’s been a while since he’s let himself go like this.

Their laughs fade into silence. It leaves them smiling. Nico can’t breathe through his left nostril. _Curses._

“You really think I should be trash talking my half-brother?” Jason asked, goofy smile still on his face. His glasses look like they’re about to fall off again. Nico resisted the urge to push them up.

“You do that all the time with Percy. He’s your cousin.” Nico responded in a joking tone (or the most joking he could come up with. It came out _wry_ ). Jason shivers and laughs, nervously this time.

Nico tries for a teasing look but fails. Jason seemed really affected by the fact that Percy (who he treated with mild and humorous antagonism, and platonic flirting) was related to him. Nico didn’t really give the joke much thought. He didn’t see the problem with it.

“Let’s stay away from the fact that we’re all related, shall we?” Jason asked.

“Agreed.” Nico responded faster than expected, which made Jason smile. A teasing smile. Nico rolled his eyes and elbowed him near the ribs. Jason’s teasing smile didn’t falter. Nico didn’t expect it to. He resisted the smile that pulled at the corners of his own lips.

“Sometimes, I hate Cupid for having to let _you_ know while we were in Croatia.” Nico said lightly. He hated Cupid for _a lot_ of things, really but, who could blame him?

“He’s _your_ cousin too, Nico.” Jason teased.

“I already told him.”

 _This_ caught Jason off guard. It was enough to make Nico forget that he even brought up any memories and cried silently about it. He let out a short laugh. It sounded bitter, but it always did, didn’t it?

To Jason, it seemed affectionate. He was looking more excited by the second. “How’d it go then?” he asked. “I-if you don’t mind me asking.”

“I don’t mind. He was really surprised. Annabeth and I even high-fived.” Nico mused, remembering Percy’s face when it happened. He looked _so_ confused. “So far he hasn’t mentioned it. Which is good for me since I know he’ll just make it sound like it’s a big deal.”

Jason was silent, his eyes hidden by the reflection of the sun on his glasses. But the sentiment was there with the silence in the air, _it really was._ Nico knew well enough that it _was_ a big deal. He was the one who grew up with it for the gods’ sake.

Jason sat up, gathering his knees in his arms. He looked at Nico with a sigh, sounding more tired than relieved. “That sounds great, Nico.” He muttered under his breath, lazy smile on his face.

“You need some sleep to catch up with?”

“If I can. I’m sure Chiron wants us to get to training soon.”

Nico sighed, “We’ll get used to it.” They always did.

They let the waves carry out their silence, the sound lulling them into a dazed state, between unconscious and conscious.

* * *

Nico trudged back to camp with Jason, who looked like he could use a pillow and a blanket. It was just about time for breakfast, and they were kind of getting hungry. But the waves _may_ have gotten Jason to fall asleep, if only for three and a half minutes. Now, he was groggy _and_ hungry. Nico had to deal with that.

Once they got to the mess hall, his usual seat was empty. He looked around for Reyna and found her chatting with Percy. _Great_ , Nico thought, just great.

It wasn’t that he was avoiding Percy (unlike a certain Apollo kid) but he _really_  needed more energy to deal with everything in the world going on around him right now.

Walking up to his table, he sat down and nestled his head in his arms. Maybe he could sleep _here_. He _did_ have a knack of falling asleep in places he shouldn’t, after all.

Once, he started getting used to the constant buzz around him, along with the chirping of the birds and the heat of his hoodie slowly making him sweat at the back, he started falling asleep.

Until someone tapped his shoulder. With a grunt, he covered his head as if to say ‘ _leave me the fuck alone’_.

 _Tap tap tap_. Nico huffed and complied. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked to glare at the person who kept him from sleeping.

“Rise and shine, Nico! The mess hall isn’t the best napping place,” Percy greeted. Nico couldn’t help but groan to himself. Percy laughed. Why did the gods hate him so much?

Nico steeled himself and faced the older teen. “What do you want, Percy?” he asked, though it sounded more demanding than he’d intended. If Percy noticed, he didn’t show.

“What, I can’t greet you ‘good morning’ from time to time?”

“You just did. What do you want?”

Percy faked a shiver and rubbed at his arms. Nico’s eyes didn’t miss the SPQR tattoo but he kept his eyes on Percy’s face. In a constant glare. “ _Brr,_ Nico. So cold.” Percy joked. Nico kept on glaring.

“Alright, alright,” Percy raised his hands up in surrender. “Sorry. I really just came here to talk to you though.”

Nico didn’t believe one word he’d said after ‘sorry’. With the way Percy makes the ‘oh, come on’ face, it may have shown on his face. Nico didn’t speak, and they spent a moment in silence, in the middle of the mess hall. Nico glanced around to other tables, Jason gave him a questioning look and mouthed a ‘you okay?’ Nico subtly raised his hand to say ‘I’m fine’.

“Seriously, Nico. I just had something in my mind. I wanna ask you something.” Percy sounded serious, Nico put his focus back on the son of Poseidon. What was this about?

“You…” Percy struggled with the words. Nico waited patiently for him to continue. He took the cup from his table and took a sip, he tasted mango juice. “You consider me a friend, right?”

Nico didn’t choke on his drink. Not at all.

Okay, maybe a little. He coughed and wiped at the juice that dripped down to his chin. “What kind of question _is_ that?” Nico asked, voice hoarse. He cleared his throat and took another sip. Strangely enough, this time, it was coffee. He downed the cup in one go.

“Whoa, there. Calm down with the drink. What are you drinking anyway?” Percy took the cup and took a sip. Nico rolled his eyes.

“You’re not gonna taste what I drank, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, but I wanted a drink too.” Percy responded.

Nico huffed, something close to a laugh, and Percy grinned. “Well?” Percy looked at him, expecting an answer. Nico’s mind focused on Percy’s question.

 _Did_ Nico consider Percy a friend? Nico internally rolled his eyes. He didn’t really _hate_ Percy to begin with. The question sounded ridiculous even in his head!

“I don’t remember ever hating you, Jackson,” Nico stated, sounding annoyed. He really wasn’t.

Percy was silent, complete with the brooding frown on his face and that furrow of his eyebrow. Nico immediately hated the fact that he’d downed a whole cup of coffee. Great, now he had to deal with the rest of the day _awake_.

“Well?” Nico echoed Percy’s earlier question. The older nodded.

“Yeah, thanks for that clarification, Nico.” Percy responded with a genuine smile. Nico looked down at his hands and played with his rings.

Percy stood up to walk away, Nico could feel the tension dripping from his body, slowly.

“Oh, uh, also,” Percy started. Nico looked at him, without the persistent glare. “Reyna’s wearing a nice shirt. Heard she got it from you.”

Nico blinked. “Thank you…?” he muttered, but Percy had already walked back to his own table.

What was that about?

Nico shook his head and stood up from his table. He wanted some sleep. And if it meant having to be up, staring at the ceiling, he was gonna do it anyway.

Once he reached the cabins, he felt the wind blow in his face, and a silent _oof!_

It was Jason.

He put his hand up, handing Nico the book. “You forgot this on your table.” Jason said. Nico blinked and reached out to take it.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. He grabbed the book, but Jason didn’t let go.

“You didn’t eat,” there was concern in his voice. Nico pulled at his book again but Jason didn’t let go. He sighed.

 “I lost my appetite, I’ll try for lunch.” Nico reassured, appreciating his friend’s concern and pulling at the book as Jason’s grip loosened.

Once the book was free from the son of Jupiter’s grip, Nico promptly stepped into one of the cabins’ shadows and shadow-traveled back into his cabin.

He fell face first on the bed.

With a tired sigh, Nico tried to pass out.

Unfortunately, he can’t do that. If he could, he wouldn’t have been awake to witness the stupidity that was Percy Jackson being cryptic and asking stupid questions.

Nico was still up when Reyna walked into the cabin.

“So, you’ve told him, I’m assuming?” Reyna stated, laying on her stomach.

Nico frowned at her. “What was your first clue?” he deadpanned. Sarcasm was as easy as a hilt to his hand, especially during moments like these. When he was tired of everything around him. He just wanted to close his eyes and let time wash over him. He couldn’t care less if another war went on while he snored off into the next century.

“He seemed to be upset, about the shirt.” Reyna continued, undeterred by his mild hostility. “It’s completely petty, but I don’t think he sees it as lightly as you do. He’s reading too much into it.”

Nico looked surprise. Percy was upset about the shirt?

Reyna seemed to know where his train of thought was heading. Then again, Nico wasn’t exactly the hardest person to read.

“He talked to you right? He seemed happy after that talk with you. What did he ask you?”

“If I considered him a friend.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Nico laughed. “It’s such a stupid question, I don’t know why he even asked it.”

Reyna frowned, moving to sit up. “I’m sure he had his reasons. After all, you spent four years avoiding him. He might have gotten jealous of our relationship.”

Nico raised an eyebrow. Reyna shrugged.

“I would be, if I were in his shoes, to be perfectly honest.”

“We grew closer in a short amount of time when he had four years.” Nico stated, uncaring of the words spilling out of his mouth.

“He didn’t push me away, I know I was annoying to him, scaring him, creeping him out.” There was a kind of bitterness in his tone. He couldn’t stop, not now. Now that he’d started it. “Eager to ease his discomfort, I distanced myself. He never asked me to come back. And now you think he’s jealous of _our_ relationship.”

Reyna stayed silent, her mind was racing, miles away. But her focus was on their conversation. That much, he knew.

“Well, he’s trying,” Reyna answered, after a moment. “And that’s all that matters.”

It was.

They both stood, knowing that it was about time Reyna and the rest of the Romans got back to New Rome. It wasn’t much of a struggle to round up the Romans (except for Dakota, who was somehow passed out by the door of the Hypnos cabin instead of the Dionysus one). The SUVs came like clockwork.

Reyna and Piper were chatting up a storm and Nico was beginning to wonder if he was missing out on something. He’d have to ask either of them sooner or later.

When Reyna came to him for a goodbye, he wordlessly gave her a hug and a smile. She hugged back, tight but not suffocating. When she pulls back, there’s a bit of hesitation.

“Are you sure I can keep this?” She asked, pulling at her new shirt. Nico gently shoved her towards the SUV.

“It’s fine, no big deal. I can buy you a thousand of inside joke shirts and it wouldn’t change the fact that you’re a good friend, Reyna.” Heat crept up on his face. By the way that Piper laughed behind him, that was probably the cheesiest thing he’d ever said in the entire fourteen years of his life.

It was true though.

When the SUVs left, Piper and Nico were left staring at the back of them and Nico felt a sudden déjà vu because this was exactly like yesterday with Jason.

“What were you guys talking about?” Nico asked, wanting to stop the awkward silence and Piper’s nervous tick: making popping sounds with her lips.

Piper gave him a cheeky smile that seemed to cycle the color of her eyes. Nico tried not to stare. “That’s for _her_ to tell you. I _honestly_ don’t know how you haven’t picked up on it with how she talks about her.”

Nico hated riddles and secrets. What the fuck was she talking about?

“Rachel.” Piper answered simply, almost as if she’d read his mind. But that was impossible, Piper didn’t read minds.

Then, she left him on the bottom of the hill to his thoughts. Nico realized that he’d said that last part out loud. Minutes later, he walked back to his cabin.

Rachel. What _about_ Rachel? Nico vaguely remembered the former oracle, being good friends with Annabeth despite the fact that she’d owned up to Percy. He envied her for that, maybe hated her, but that was all in the past.

Why were Piper and Reyna talking about Rachel?

When lunch dropped by, sooner than expected, there was a knock on the door. Nico was abruptly jolted out of his thoughts.

Jason stood at the door, expectant. “C’mon, it’s lunch time.” He said, his tone suggested that Nico could back out of it. Nico didn’t. He knew Jason would have picked him up and flown them into the mess hall if he refused, profanity, shadows, and murderous intent aside. He stood and fixed himself before heading out.

* * *

After lunch, Chiron had paused his archery lessons, passing it over to the older Apollo kids. This took Nico by surprise. Chiron _never_ passed up the chance of teaching. It must be something important.

He gathered them on the porch of the Big House, Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, and himself. A gentle summer breeze added to the ambience of the trees, plants, grass, the sound of the distant creek, and the flag by the small window of the attic. Nico needed to hang out near the Big House more often. And probably nap on the porch.

Chiron stood in front of them as they sat on the porch, making themselves comfortable. Nico stood, feeling awkward as he stared them down. There wasn’t any disapproval, disappointment, or any negative emotion on his face, but Nico stood still and held his breath anyway.

“The five of you have been through a lot, I understand,” Chiron stated. His voice was gentle, stance stiff. Philosophy and advice was easy for him but not with a group who’s been through so much… and without his guidance and his eye on them the entire time. He had no idea what to say, probably. Nico felt a drop of sympathy for the centaur.

“But this cannot take you away from your training. You have learned much from your journeys, each of you,” Chiron continued. “Much that I cannot have taught you. But,” he cut off, smiling. Nico couldn’t help but give a shy smile back. “You can never get too rusty.”

Nico nodded, it was reasonable. At the thought of training, his hand itched for that grip on his sword. Chiron had that kind of way with words that didn’t work quite like charmspeak. Nico, soon, realized that it was respect and authority. It was far from a foreign concept to him, but he’d never connected both concepts to only one person. Gods excluded.

The demigods rose from their comfortable seats on the porch and started stretching. Looks like they were _all_ going to jump into training as soon as they’d gotten dismissed.

“Before you’re dismissed however,” Chiron announced. “I’d like to issue a new class to misters Grace, Jackson, and di Angelo.”

Nico blinked. Twice. Did Chiron just say his name? Did he just say “new class”?

“You will be helping some of the children of Hecate in controlling the new children’s powers. Some cases are very hard for them as it is.” Chiron explained. “I hope you can ease this… predicament for them.”

Nico can already feel the dread weigh down, getting lower and lower and settling in his stomach. The kids were gonna hate him, they always do. Why’d Chiron want him to teach these kids? Should he ask Hazel for help? Maybe Piper? She knew how this worked. Better than him, probably.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he twisted away from it in surprise. It was Annabeth and Piper. Behind them was Jason, who had seen his troubles from afar. Percy was nowhere to be seen. He gave Jason small glare, how come he didn’t tell Annabeth and Piper that Nico wasn’t one for touching?

“Are you okay, Nico? Your breathing was getting a bit too fast there for a second.” Piper asked, concern in her voice.

Nico shook his head, though if it was an answer to Piper’s question or to clear his thoughts, he didn’t know. “I-I can’t. They’ll hate me.” He said to himself, quietly.

Jason stepped closer. Piper was still confused. Annabeth gave him some space.

“What are you talking about, Nico?” There was disbelief and confusion in Piper’s voice, eyes, and expression and he didn’t know why she was so surprised. Like, has she _seen_ him, did he _look_ child-friendly to her?

Nico stammered some more he couldn’t describe it to her without them seeing him as shallow and weak.

“If you’re not comfortable with it, it’s okay, Nico. Even _I’m_ dreading it. Scared of it.” Jason said, understanding it perfectly. His voice was gentle and comforting to Nico. He realized that Piper was more confused at his statement and not what he had meant it to portray.

“We’ll get through it together, ‘kay? We can ask a lot of other people for advice. Chiron said the classes started tomorrow, anyway.”

Nico blinked, he didn’t know about that last part. It must have been announced during his little break down. He tried not to get tense at the thought of asking for help but this was something out of his comfort zone. He had to try. He had to make Chiron proud. It was an irrational feeling, wanting someone he barely knew to be proud of him. Chiron and he weren’t even close.

But it was something he wanted to aim for.

Powers were hard to control.

His finger was getting raw from him twisting the rings on it unconsciously. He dropped his hands to his side and took a deep breath. He gave Jason a weak nod and tried not to dread the future so much.

“Great. Now, let’s get to training. Percy’s probably waiting for a sparring match.” Jason grinned, making Nico grin too.


	2. Arguments and Apol(l)ogies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Make it or break it, just like all of Nico's relationships.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got rid of the adventure and went for a more spiritual turn. Nico needs a break. Sorry for taking so long though. And making so much, yeesh.
> 
> Comments are appreciated!

Nico found that even in battle, even if it _was_ just sword/power practice, his thoughts weren’t going to leave him alone.

Turned out, the children of the Big Three had their schedules aligned in sword fighting. Nico didn’t even _know_ that someone had kept his schedule to begin with. Somehow, the Stolls had him covered, and Percy was absolutely _ecstatic_ at the coincidence. Jason was none the wiser, completely eager, hand itching to his sword the whole time they walked from the Big House to the open arena.

Currently, he was sparring with Jason. The sun bearing down on his armored back, he ducked under Jason’s swing, and twisted for an elbow hit to the blond’s gut.

He’d hit it just enough to disorient Jason for a bit. Jason winced as he jumped back, distancing himself from the son of Hades. His glasses wobbled a little, moving down his sweat-slicked nose. He pushed it back up, only to have it slowly slide back down.

Along with the fact that Nico was wearing his usual black, skull-print shirt under the weight of the celestial bronze armor, the summer heat didn’t contribute anything to raising his body heat. His skin barely even rose to a pink-ish color under the sun. After four years of not worrying about it, maybe he should be concerned about that now…

They circled around each other, with Nico not letting his eyes leave Jason’s. He cracked the earth open near Jason’s feet and smirked at the surprised yelp coming from the son of Jupiter.

“That’s so childish, Nico.” Jason muttered, balancing himself with a gust of air. Nico did nothing but shrug. What could he say? He was a child at heart, after all. His mind slipped back out of the fight.

He _had_ to talk to Hazel about the lessons, have her teach him how she manipulates the mist, and how her own powers worked for her. Nico knew enough about powers to control them in battle, but Chiron was asking for… milder solutions in even milder situations. Control over their powers in… emotional situations, mundane situations, etc. Nico didn’t know if he could contribute to that. He wasn’t sure if Hazel could too.

He used to kill weeds when he passed by empty house lots, and more so when he went through the forest for a walk. Hazel usually had gems trailing her whenever she got moody after an argument or after encountering Octavian. Percy tended to flood the bathrooms when he had a bad episode. Jason still has trouble with electrocuting people, even with just static electricity. Piper sometimes made people do weird things without realizing it.

Leo used to complain about burning his eyebrows a lot on the Argo II.

How the hell were they gonna manage other kids’ shit when they couldn’t even handle their own? Maybe Chiron had the wrong idea. They probably need the teaching the kids were getting too.

 He sprinted at Jason, and swung his sword, Stygian iron glinting in the sunlight. Jason fell back, dodging, catching himself with the winds around them. Nico raised a brow at this, and they circle each other once more.

“You have to stop relying too much on your powers, Jason.” He commented, unconsciously tapping the gravel with the tip of his sword. _Crrrk,_ it sounded continually, like clockwork, counting the seconds as they circled each other just before pouncing.

Jason ducked to the right, and swung at his left. Nico jumped back, dodging the swing by a hair. He let his breath hitch, predicting the stab that was coming after, he dropped to his knees and rolled towards Jason’s left.

 Nico threw his sword to his right hand and swung the tip toward Jason’s throat. He stopped at the last moment, bringing the blade close enough to keep the older teen steady.

They both paused for a second, both demigods breathing haggard from the sudden action. Nico watched as a drop of sweat dripped from Jason’s chin and landed on the dark metal of his sword.

He won. A bit too easily, he thought. Jason’s probably doing it on purpose. _Unbelievable_.

“You’re making this too easy for me,” Nico voiced out. There was a tone of bitterness in the way he said it. Not without reason. He wasn’t even breathing heavily, didn’t use any kind of shadow-travel during the match.

“Want me to tone down the easiness for you, your Royal Highness?” Jason wheezed back as a reply, rubbing at his sore gut. The loopy grin on his face was forced. Nico drew a deep breath and tried for a grin, though he was sure it looked more like a grimace.

Jason agreed with that conclusion. His expression sobered. “Look, you weren’t really focused on the whole sparring thing, okay?”

“Is that any way to talk to your elders, Grace?” Nico asked sarcastically, trying not to give away his surprise. He didn’t intend for his pondering to somehow influence his fighting. Jason chuckled at his reply.

“I don’t suppose you want me kneel down and kiss your ring every time I see you? Does that seem respectful enough for you, _sir_?” Jason retorted. At Nico’s lack of comeback, Jason laughed again. Nico pulled a face.

“Yeah? Well, you’re getting _soft_ , Grace,” the teasing tone in his voice was hard to miss but it sounded kind of unnatural with his default tired tone. Nico sheathed his sword onto his back and patted at Jason’s stomach. He didn’t miss the wince that came after he did this. A little bit of satisfaction came with that.

Jason’s expression changed, and he pouted, fixing his glasses. “Excuse me? Are you calling me _fat_? I’ll have you know, I am _so healthy_. Here, lemme show you.” Nico huffed, something close to a laugh.

Jason straightened up and pointed his sword, flexing dramatically. “See? I am _so_ fucking fit.” Nico doesn’t resist the chuckle that comes out of his mouth this time, full-out laughing as Jason lifts his shirt to show off his “abs”. Soon enough, they’re both laughing.

It’s hysterical, and Nico felt like he was free. He liked that feeling. It was better than the usual numb feeling.

Jason’s cackles were louder than his own silent shaking laughter, but when Nico tried to stop, Jason kept breaking out into laughter and it’d start again.

Even _Percy_ can’t stop them from the dreadful cycle as he approached with his stupid mock scolding frown. “ _Alright_ , boys. Grace, put down your shirt or you’re training without it. That _certainly_ wouldn’t help Nico. He’ll be a bit too distracted by all your fuckin’ _jiggling_!”

Nico laughed some more as this causes some more mock banter between them.

After that, Percy called for an impromptu break, pulling them to the side to let some of the other demigods duke it out on the open arena.

They sat down on the grass, setting their armor to the side. Jason in the middle with Nico on his left, and Percy on his right. With the summer heat, Nico was grateful that he told Jason that he had to change first before sparring. He’d have collapsed in this heat with a hoodie on, his malfunctioning sweat glands be damned. And with _armor_ too _._

The companionable silence between the children of the Big Three was snuffed out by the sound of cicadas, the rustling of leaves, the sound of the creek flowing nearby, and the sound of metal clashing with metal.

“I need one of you to duel with me. Like, serious actual ‘I might end up killing you’ duel,” Percy piped up. Nico raised an eyebrow at this. It sounded more like a demand than a request. That signaled the end of their break. Nico passed them their armor, and they all wordlessly started putting it on.

Percy put his hands up, gesturing while explaining. Nico glanced, and was pleasantly surprised that Percy was already done assembling his armor. _Someone_ ’s eager. “If either one of you want to duel with me, you _have_ to focus. I’m serious. There’s a big chance you or me could get hurt.”

“I don’t even want to correct that last sentence. How did you even graduate high school?” Jason commented.

Percy shrugged. “I didn’t. I kinda got kidnapped by this crazy goddess of marriage and went missing for eight months in the other side of the country, remember?”

“Of course, how could I forget,” Jason deadpanned. Percy punched his arm affectionately.

Nico snorted at the last statement, sliding on the last part of his armor, giving the grips a tug before turning his attention to Percy, who was currently looking directly at him, giving him a frown over Jason’s shoulders. “C’mon, Nico. I _have_ to measure how far I’ve gone with my powers.”

Nico sighed and glanced at Jason, who still seemed weak from Nico’s hit to his gut. He tried for a concerned look and Jason put his hand up with a weak smile. “I’m fine, go spar with him. I just need to rest for a bit. I’ll join you when I’m okay.”

“Sorry.” Nico muttered, Jason heard but Percy didn’t. They looked at each other, silent.

From what he’d heard in their Council meeting after the war, Jason got stabbed by an Imperial gold sword, by the ghost of Michael Varus. It had healed but still ached and smoked weeks after. For some reason, Nico felt like he had opened a wound, even though Piper and Jason had thoroughly explained that it was healed and that the smoking was more of a spiritual thing, which has also healed too.

Jason made no move to tell Nico if he _had_ opened a wound. Nico buried the worry deep within the chasms of his mind and hoped it never reared its ugly head ever again. It was irrational.

If Jason made no move to tell Nico, then Nico wasn’t gonna worry about it.

Behind them, the sound of clashing swords had stopped, as the demigods who had borrowed the arena walked off with a nod to their direction.

Percy jumped up from his seat, a look of excitement on his face. He looked like what Nico imagined he would, if he were six years old and it was Christmas morning. “Alright then! Let’s go spar, Nico! Quick, while the arena’s still vacant.”

Percy ran for the arena but Nico stayed behind. He stood up but hesitated. He looked back down at Jason. His attempts at keeping his worry down were swatted away, like bile rising up his throat.

“Are you _sure_ you’re okay?” Nico asked, concern evident in his tone. It even had _him_ by surprise.

Jason smiled at his concern, genuinely this time but that was where it ended. From the way he sat up straight, Nico could tell he didn’t want to worry him. “Yeah, I’m sure. You have _very_ lethal elbow hits, y’know that?” Jason joked.

Nico snorted, but the reassurance wasn’t enough. He was still kind of worried, but it was enough to stomach this time, to push back down. He glanced at Percy.

“Go on, don’t keep him hanging. It’s gonna help with the teaching tomorrow, promise,” Jason encouraged, lying down on the grass. Nico nodded and turned to walk toward Percy, who was currently practicing swings. “I’ll be watching!” Jason shouted from behind him, which was a lie, since he literally just lied down to rest.

Nico rolled his eyes and looked toward the arena. He felt a surge of excitement as he approached the son of Poseidon.

“Don’t go easy on me,” Percy said, a teasing tone in his voice. Nico rolled his eyes and gave his Stygian iron sword a test swing as he stopped in front of the older demigod. He had no intention in going easy on the older teen. Percy bounced on the soles of his feet. Nico couldn’t help the grin on his face as he locked eyes with him. Sea-green on his own near-black, brown. Excitement glinted in their eyes.

“I’ll try not to,” was the last thing he said before he made the earth crack beneath them. Percy stumbled for a second, as the tremors ran through the arena, before sprinting at Nico.

He reared his sword arm to the side, the blade reflecting the sunlight that was mercilessly baring down on them, and swung at Nico’s head. He ducked, and felt the earth shake again as he summoned two skeleton soldiers. They crawled out into the surface, dragging themselves to their feet.

He rolled away from Percy, and chuckled darkly at the helpless look on the older demigod’s face. Locking Percy to his place, were a pair of skeletal hands clutching at his ankles with a vice-like grip. Percy pulled at his feet, growling in frustration.

“This is _cheating_ , Nico!"

Nico stood up from his crouch, tapping the tip of his sword onto the floor of the arena, and hummed. “Far as I remember, we were sparring to get our powers in check for tomorrow, Jackson,” Nico mocked, a grin forming on his face as Percy continued to struggle. A few seconds later, Jackson glared at him.

“Our powers, huh? Well—,” Percy took a deep breath mid-sentence, as if preparing to attack, and the air _whoosh_ ed behind Nico, like the sound of something not-so solid flying in the air. “Two can play it that game!”

Nico took off into a sprint and jumped into Percy’s shadow, predicting the attack. He didn’t have time to summon the shadows. He probably didn’t even have enough energy for it.

He jumped back into the arena from one of the skeleton soldier’s shadows, just in time to see the stream of water pass through where Nico was once standing.

Nico’s breathing began taking a turn from ‘post-light jog’ to ‘a thousand miles over the Atlantic Ocean with a statue tied to his and his friends’ backs’. He pointedly ignored the migraine pulsing through his head. This was taking a lot out of him, _and_ he let Percy wait long enough for a passage of water from the creek.

Rookie mistake. He ignored the way that his skin felt colder as a light wind blew past the thin layer of sweat that he had, even though his insides felt hotter. He circled the son of Poseidon, careful of his next move.

Percy slipped out of the skeletal grip, kicking at the soaking skeletal hands and pushed a hand out in Nico’s general direction. With a grimace, Nico ran and rolled into Percy’s reach, and rammed into the older demigod, knocking them both off their feet. He ducked into himself and rolled again, away from Percy.

He came out of the roll on his knees, hissing as his knees skidded on the gravel. He felt a shadow on his back, and gave a quick sigh. Quickly, he sheathed his sword on his back. Percy was quick, already on a crouch after the rather unorthodox method that, quite literally, threw him off.

Nico scowled at his vice grip on Riptide. _Attack_ , he thought to the two skeleton soldiers, and watched at the sides while Percy preoccupied himself with the goons.

He cautiously stood, ignoring the sting of his probably skinned knees. Curse him and his habit of picking at his jeans. The fabric wouldn’t have held with the amount of times he’s done that but the habit didn’t help either.

He knew that the stagger happened as he stood wasn’t because of the skinned knees. He needed to end this, and fast. Once one of the skeletons were down, Percy ignored the second one and raised his arm at Nico’s direction again.

Nico fell into the shadows and came up in Percy’s own, sticking his knees behind Percy’s and grabbing at the wrist that held Riptide. With a twist of his own wrist, Riptide was off to the side, picked up by the last skeleton standing.

He elbowed Percy in the face, before the son of Poseidon started getting any ideas of twisting out of his grip. Hard enough to knock the older demigod off his feet, again, but not hard enough to heavily bruise. Percy groaned, rolling over, onto his back, clutching at the side of his face.

Grabbing Riptide from the soldier, Nico put a foot on Percy’s chest and pointed the celestial bronze sword under the groaning demigod’s throat.

For the second time that day, Nico stared down a comrade. He ignored the way that black spots were dancing around his vision, the way that his grip on Riptide was weakening, and the way his eyelids got heavier by the second. He tightened his grip immediately. He couldn’t afford accidentally killing Percy.

He won. Again.

He shoved the sword to the side, and pulled Percy up to his feet, almost falling back but holding onto Percy for support. Once Percy was steady, the world started spinning around him.

An airy laugh bubbled up Percy’s throat, as he cheerfully patted Nico on the back.

“That,” Percy grunted and winced as the part of his face, that was probably going to bruise, pulled up with his smile. “Was fucking _awesome_ , Nico! You really didn’t take it easy on me. I didn’t even get to use my powers—!”

Nico swayed and dropped to his knees. Percy caught him at the last second pulling him up to his feet. “Whoa! Nico, holy shit, are you—?”

“I think that’s enough training for Nico, right Percy?” a voice asked warily from behind them. Nico took great care not to _swing_ his head at that direction.

Jason approached, a concerned look on his face. Almost instinctively, Nico frowned and pushed Percy away, attempting to stand straight. At any given situation, he’d have hated being manhandled, but Percy was only trying to help him. He resisted giving the son of Poseidon a glare. Instead, he glared at the floor, trying to get the world to stop spinning.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Nico struggled to say. Jason continued to give him a look, a mixture of exasperation and disbelief. “Really, Jason. I’m fine. Promise.”

“Yeah, and Percy’s never offended anyone ever. Cut the shit, Nico.”

Nico glared up at Jason. Jason glared back down at him. He didn’t need his worry right now.

Jason’s expression couldn’t have softened more. Now, he looked like he was on the verge of resigning and letting Nico do what he wanted. “Look, that was a great battle and all but, I really think you should go see a medic, Nico,” Jason persisted, shaking his head. He put a hand on Nico’s shoulder. Nico realized that it was to hold him still. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep because you _really_ look like shit.”

Nico shook his head, and immediately regretted this action. The world spun all around him, faster than before. Okay, _now_ he needed to worry about the black spots dancing in his vision. “Speak for yourself, Grace.”

“I’ll admit to that,” Jason said, giving him an earnest smile. Nico would have wiped that smile off, if he wasn’t so queasy.

“Well, it’s your turn next,” Nico commented weakly, deciding to give in. “You need to hand Percy’s ass to him.”

Jason huffed. Nico blinked and looked at how the stapler wound stretched around the son of Jupiter’s upper lip. “Alright, then. I’ll make sure of that.”

“Hey, I’m still _right here_ , guys!” Percy exclaimed, his expression a mixture of confused, offended, and concerned, like his chemistry teacher just decided to give the class a quiz on a whim. Should he be cramming for something? Like, maybe the point of this conversation in front of him.

Nico stared at him. Well, maybe the area behind him. His vision was getting _really_ blurry right now. His chest felt kind of tight.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and realized that Jason was still holding him steady. Nico’s eyes followed the grip up to Jason’s face, which _still_ looked anxious. Nico resisted the urge of grabbing Jason’s glasses and making a run for it. Jason’s voice pulled him back to the land of reality. “Just, don’t push yourself, okay?”

He blinked, then averted his gaze.

“You’re not my mother, Grace. I’m technically ninety-four, I’ll be fine.” Nico muttered, his voice uncharacteristically lacking the usual snarky tone to back up the retort. He trudged back to their section of grass.

“ _Very_ funny, Nico,” Jason shouted back at him, although his own lack of enthusiasm for the comeback was noticeable too. Apparently not by Jackson, who still looked confused and offended and concerned. Nico huffed and lied down on the grass, ignoring the way his armor dug into his shoulders. He set aside his sword and promptly fell asleep.

***

 _‘Wake up!’_ someone shouted.

Nico looked around, dazed. He blinked. He was inside the House of Hades, holding hands with the seven. ‘ _Everyone, grab hands!_ ’ he heard himself say, but he didn’t open his mouth. His voice sounded shaky. He felt someone, Hazel, squeeze at his wrist.

He blinked again, and he was freefalling. He could hear his shouting from over the wind, the feeling of panic washing over him as he slipped away from Reyna’s grasp. Mount Vesuvius looked like a huge crater from this angle.

Blink. He felt the firewater run down his throat. He needed this. He _needed this_. Tears rushed to his eyes as he swallowed it. Just enough to keep me hydrated, he promised himself. He tried not to choke, to make it quick.

Blink. Hades flicked his hand, waving away the spirit in the temple. ‘ _My son, what you are attempting—shadow-travel across the world, carrying the statue of Athena—it may as well destroy you_.’

Nico snorted and this time, he actually talked with his voice. ‘ _Thanks for the encouragement_.’ He felt a hand on his shoulder

Blink. He was on the mast of the Argo II, the wind hitting his eyes but he didn’t blink. The clouds were hovering below the ship, and he _knew_ they were at level with any passing mortal airlines at the moment. He tried not to think about Tartarus, or mountain gods, or anything. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

And then, there was feeling of falling. Not like Vesuvius, or anything. Just, the feeling of falling, like you were gonna wake up from a dream.

***

When he drifted into consciousness, Nico couldn’t remember where he was or what he was just dreaming about. He just knew that that last memory/dream fracture was about him collapsing on the deck of the Argo II because of the lack of the food he had eaten that day. That was normal, for him at least. He stared at the orange glow on his eyelids, and tried to remember what he was doing before he fell asleep.

He sparred with Percy and fell asleep on the grass beside the arena. He remembered the ridges of his armor digging into his back. Remembered Jason’s stupid concerned face.

He didn’t remember taking his armor off. He also didn’t remember when he got brought somewhere else. He felt a rough cloth underneath him, and a smooth one on top of him. He didn’t remember that.

He cracked his eyes open and groaned. He shut them again quickly. Why the fuck was it so _bright_? You’d think he’d get used to it while staring at the back of his eyelids but _no_. Where the hell was he?

“ _You’re awake!_ ” Someone shouted from the side. Nico grumbled and opened his eyes again to see blond hair, tan skin, scrubs, and Will fucking Solace.

Nico groaned again and closed his eyes again, wishing for nothing more than the beckon of sleep. Or for _someone_ to hit Solace in the head with a dog bone because he couldn’t be bothered to get up at the moment.

He was in the infirmary. He remembered Jason’s concerned face again and grumbled something about meddling blonds. They seem to have been something of a consistency in his life at the moment.

Slowly, Nico sat up, swatting away Solace’s hand, which was predictably going to push him back down. He coughed, tasting unicorn draught in his mouth. Quickly, he swallowed and remembered Reyna.

“How long was I out?” Nico more croaked than asked, trying not to glare too hard at Solace. Grudges aside, Solace was doing his job right now.

Solace checked at his wristwatch and hummed. “I’d say about three hours tops. You wanna tell me what exactly happened?”

Nico tried not to wince at the news. He held his breath. He knew what was gonna come next. It was either from Jason or from Solace, if worse comes to worst, maybe from an Iris-message from both Reyna and Hazel.

“No.”

With his luck, Nico might get the best of all worlds.

“Well, at least you’re saving your breath. Grace already told me what happened. You _collapsed,_ Nico, from exhaustion,” Solace started as he sat down on the chair beside Nico’s cot.

Nico let go of the breath he’d been holding before Solace’s statement. He didn’t know why he didn’t expect the berating to happen almost as soon as he came to. This was _Will fucking Solace_. You know? The guy that scolded Nico about his help and almost costing them their elaborate sneak-attack against the Romans. He should’ve expected it.

“So I did,” Nico muttered, fiddling with his ring, trying not to look at the blond medic.

“What did I _say_ , di Angelo? Three days. _Three fucking days_ of bed rest and a ban on your powers. But _no_ ,” Solace ranted. Nico sent him a glare that made him falter on his impromptu speech.

“I _gave_ you your three days already, Solace. I didn’t back out of that deal,” Nico retorted coldly. That was only a _half_ lie. He _was_ kinda asleep for most of those days.

Solace chuckled, and it almost sounded bitter. Nico resisted a flinch rather expertly. “You’d expect me to believe that? That second day, you tripped me on a rock. The first day, you didn’t think I’d stop to ask the Stolls?”

Nico kept his face straight. That was enough to set off Solace.

Nico wondered to himself how easy he was to read, really, if even virtual strangers like Solace knew how to read him. Then, he felt angry at the fact that Solace read him like he was billboard sign. Does this asshole know how long Nico’s been honing that straight face?

He didn’t have a response to that extremely bold (but true) accusation, nor did he plan on responding if he did. Solace wasn’t someone he wanted to speak with at the moment. From what happened last time, Nico didn’t want a repetition or some kind of emotional talk about his ‘pushing away’ issues.

 _“You pushed_ yourself _away. If you’d get your head out of that brooding cloud of yours for once–”_

Nico frowned, the words rang inside his head. Anger slowly boiled deep beneath his chest. He didn’t expect Solace to understand. A son of Apollo claiming to know him when they literally have just spoken a limited number of times wasn’t someone Nico would want to be around at _any_ time of the day. Not even to ask for directions.

“You’ve been lying to me this _whole time_ about that bed rest thing and I don’t even think you _considered_ it,” Solace continued, a hysterical tone in his voice as he gesticulated while talking. This brought Nico out of his thoughts, his breathing getting heavier.

He gave Nico a solemn look, one that looked a tad too serious on the son of Apollo’s face. Nico gave him another blank stare. “What’s it going to _take_ for you to take your health seriously, huh?”

Nico let the silence answer for him, gritting his teeth. This reminded him of the third night, Solace and him, alone and talking about emotional stuff that Solace took a wild guess at. Only this time, there wasn’t any of the jumping to conclusions bullshit, and surely _neither_ of them are gonna joke about each other’s mothers right now.

Then again, seeing Solace would always remind him of that evening.

Finding nothing to do with himself, Nico put his feet down the other side of the cot and stood up.

Luckily for him, he was on the side of the infirmary tent that had the exit to it, something that Solace couldn’t have thought about. Nico silently thanked for whatever god or goddess up there for helping him from having to shadow-travel out of the tent for an escape. He’ll be sure to send them whatever he was gonna have for dinner tonight.

Like, maybe more than half of his plate.

Nico blinked. _Maybe I_ should _start taking my health seriously,_ he thought to himself. He pushed the thought away. Damn ADD, getting him distracted from being grudgingly mad at Solace.

As soon as he put one foot in front of the other, he heard Solace hold his breath. Nico knew what was coming almost immediately.

“And where do _you_ think you’re going, di Angelo?” Ah, _there_ it was. Nico didn’t bother to turn around.

“Away from you, if it wasn’t obvious,” he replied, voice cracking. The unicorn draught did _not_ do him any favors on the throat side.

He could practically _feel_ the eye roll at that statement without even having to look. That’s just the way Solace works. “Oh, so _that’s_ it. You’re just gonna walk away from me like that? Yeah, _thanks_ for your life-saving advice, Nico!”

Nico stopped in his tracks, vaguely aware of his hands shaking along with the rumbling of blood in his ears.

“Come back here, di Angelo!” Nico heard but he didn’t make a move. Instead, he heard Solace move towards him. His breathing became almost labored, but Nico tried to keep it normal, his teeth hurting from clenching his jaw.

Nico whipped around, not expecting the proximity of which Solace was currently an arm’s length away from him. That was enough for some people but to Nico, it wasn’t. In his anger, he didn’t bother with the distance.

This asshole did _not_ just say that to Nico. How fucking _dare_ he?He glowered at the medic, vaguely aware of the darkness curling around them.

“Listen here, _Solace_ ,” he snarled, his tone as cold as Stygian ice. “I don’t owe you _anything_. I don’t care if you think I owe you my life or whatever just because we had— oh, I don’t know— maybe _five fucking hours_ in the battlefield together?” Nico threw his hands up.

“Also, I don’t _care_ if you think I _owe_ you my physical health just because I’m your patient, or some other pretentious bullshit you made yourself think. Because as far as _I_ remember, I didn’t sign up for your doting bullshit regime.”

Solace stared back at him, face straight, shoulders tense, and his gaze cold. It made Nico’s anger bubble out of his mouth and into his hands, heat taking over him. He was vaguely aware of the grass turning sickly yellow around him, of the distant whinnying of pegasii in the stables. The shadows around him ducked down and solidified as tendrils under his feet.

Nico almost laughed at Solace’s face, if his chest didn’t feel empty. Instead, he huffed and said, “I didn’t _ask_ to push people away, okay? I didn’t ask for you to _stick_ your ass into _my_ fucked-up business!”

With his gestures, he stepped up, pushing a finger onto Solace’s chest for his final point, “And I _certainly_ didn’t fucking ask for your _shitty_ opinions and misunderstandings, concerning my apparently, already shitty health and attitude!”

By the end of it, Nico’s breathing was labored, like he’d just fought Percy all over again. Slowly, he backed off. Solace stood, silent, in front of the white tent of the infirmary.

Nico ran a hand through his hair and pulled harshly at it. “Stop pretending like you understand me, Solace…” Nico fumed, resisting the shiver that ran up his spine as his body caught up to the temperature around him.

The anger slowly subsided to a simmer. He saw puffs of breath coming out of his mouth, which was concerning since it was in the middle of summer.

With that said, he left the infirmary, not once did he have the urge of turning back.

***

To not wallow in complete sorrow and regret alone in his cabin, Nico went to the next best place in Camp Half-Blood that _wasn’t_ the exit.

The Oracle’s cave. It stood out from greenery, a few yards behind from the Big House, bead curtains hanging around the opening.

Rachel always offered her cave up when she wasn’t in camp, telling campers that they could use the area and everything in it. Except for the paintings and art materials, those were probably sacred to her. Which meant the sound system and the gaming systems were readily available.

This made for the optimal modern teenager’s hang out spot, but since Gaea, no one’s been going in the cave at all. It might have been because it was, well, a landmass, or because Rachel was usually asleep in there. But after all of that, he didn’t find it completely odd that it was empty, though it was quite unusual.

As he trudged up and pushed past the bead curtains, taking his shoes off before stepping onto the carpeted floor, his mind was focused on one thing: finding a distraction. And music was the only distraction he could think of.

Nico was going to use this chance to just search through Rachel’s sound system. But, he had to figure it out first.

That’s how Jason found him thirty minutes later, sat in front of the television, clutching at Rachel’s MP3 and muttering Italian curses with loud rock music pounding out of the speakers on either side of the TV stand. Why the hell didn’t the oracle have any soothing music in the stupid contraption?

“What are you doing?” Jason simply asked, sitting down next to him and looking over his shoulder.

Nico scowled, not minding the space between them, or the fact that he didn’t even notice Jason walking up behind him, “I’m trying to look for perfectly good, non-rock music.”

Jason made a confused noise (and probably an equally confused face to come with it). “Dude, Arctic Monkeys is like, _super_ mellow. It’s barely even rock, if you look for the right songs,” he commented. Nico took a moment to look over his shoulder to give Jason a dry look as if to say ‘I don’t fucking know what the hell you’re talking about’.

Jason rolled his eyes at this, and grabbed the device, softly clipping Nico’s head. After a few moments, the music changed to a [slower beat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BJAunaulxc). Nico leaned back on the fur carpet of the cave and tried to relax with a deep breath.

Jason set the MP3 back on its stand and looked at him. All concerned baby blue eyes and tense shoulders, trying too hard not to look _too_ concerned and nervous. Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was so obvious, he could have attracted a hundred monsters by standing in front of the Empire State Building for five seconds.

Nico stared back, dismissively waving Jason’s concern off like it was a pesky fly, “If you want to talk about the thing at the infirmary, just spit it out. I’m not gonna lash out on you. I can assure you, I already poured all my energy out of telling Solace to back the fuck off.”

“How’d you know that I was curious about that? I mean, _particularly_ that subject,” Jason asked, almost cautiously. Nico snorted, maybe the older teen thought he was psychic or something. Or he was making it look like Nico was jumping to conclusions.

“Jason, you’ve stayed in this camp longer than I have within the last _four years_ ,” he responded, choosing to eye one of Rachel’s paintings off in the far corner of the cave instead of looking at Jason. “How long is it gonna take for you to understand that word spreads around here faster than wildfire?”

Jason chuckled, rubbing at his scalp, by the start of his hairline. “I didn’t really think of it that way. I just thought people were always watching whenever shit happened to me.”

Nico huffs a laugh at the statement. “Really now. I’ll count on _you_ to have that kind of mindset, and you’re like, what, two or three years older than me?”

Jason raised a brow at that, a smug look on his face. “I specifically remember you telling me that you were ninety-four before you collapsed four hours ago,” he joked. Nico rolled his eyes at the statement and gave Jason a mock-glare as if to ask ‘ _really?_ ’

“Also, you know me, son of the king of the universe and all. I got used to the thought of _everyone_ watching and judging by the sidelines, watching my every move, noticing every mistake,” Jason continued. Nico gave the patch of hair that Jason’s been rubbing at for the last few minutes, a passing glance. There was a wound there, having been hidden by the older demigod’s locks for the past few months. This was the first time Nico’s ever seen it.

It looked like someone cut his hair wrong and there’s that streak by the side of his head that looked weird. He wondered how Jason had gotten it. Maybe Thalia knew.

Jason laughed nervously, bringing him out of his thoughts. “Yeah, Nico, _exactly_ like how you were just staring at me.”

Nico blinked, his eyes flicking down towards Jason in the eyes. _Had_ he been staring? Oh, gods. “Sorry, I got distracted.”

“I don’t mind,” Jason said, grabbing the MP3 again, to queue up the next few songs. “You helped me prove my point anyway.”

Nico couldn’t help but slap himself internally. Did he _really_ just tell Jason that he’d find him distracting? Dear _gods_ , someone help Nico di Angelo.

“So… the thing with Will,” Jason started. Nico closed his eyes and sighed. “What happened back there?”

Nico looked up at him, laying his hands on his stomach. He really didn’t want to tell the whole story right now so, instead of answering, he tossed back a, “What did you hear from the campers?”

This made Jason tense again. The son of Jupiter gave him a nervous laugh and a cough. Nico raised a brow at this. “They uh, said you guys had a bit of an LQ.”

Nico made a face. That sounded like an abbreviation, and he felt like he’d regret ever wanting to know what it stood for. He asked anyway, “LQ?”

“It’s short hand for lover’s quarrel.”

Nico groaned and rolled over to his side. He fucking _knew_ he was gonna regret it. Why’d he even ask in the first place? Jason laughed, less nervously this time. Nico whipped back around to give him a glare.

Jason bumped his leg affectionately. “It’s not _that_ bad, Nico. It’s just a term they use so that they won’t be putting either of you in a bad light!”

Nico laughed bitterly, waving a hand out, “Yeah, because people thinking that there’s trouble in paradise is better than having myself out of the equation entirely.”

“That _is_ better.” Jason insisted and Nico couldn’t help but think of a kid who’d started insisting that Santa was real. It might not be that far of a comparison, actually. “At least no one’s antagonizing you anymore.”

“But instead of antagonizing me, they spread false rumors about me,” Nico found the quiver in his voice annoying, going back to staring at Rachel’s paintings. His hands shot up as he shrugged while ranting, “For someone who doesn’t respect boundaries, that asshole has a lot of people at his back. I mean, he’s got them covering his back for something as small as… as a setting of boundaries!”

Jason’s shoulders seemed to sag at the comment. Nico decided that the fur rug he was lying on was more interesting than that.

So much for waving Jason’s concern off like a pesky fly, huh? He might as well have walked in front of Jason, waving his hands in front of the taller demigod’s nose shouting ‘ _I’m none of your concern’_. Knowing Jason, it would have the opposite effect.

He refused to lock eyes with Jason. Those terribly earnest blue eyes that should probably have no business with someone like him. Why the hell did he even let Jason Grace continue on in intervening in his life struggles and social issues anyway?

Jason sank down beside him, propped up on his elbows, the scar on his lip like a crescent as he frowned. Nico ignored all of this and listened to the music play its final set of notes.

“Nico, I’m your friend,” Jason started. Yeah, that was _exactly_ why Nico kept him around. Jason also gave the best hugs since forever ago, even though it’s only been a day since Hazel left and Reyna just went this morning. “I’m telling you: whatever Will has that you think you don’t? You definitely have it, Nico. As your friend, I guarantee that this is a _fact_.”

Nico gave him a pointed stare. “You mean, I have archery skills and a good singing voice? I’m _flattered_.”

Jason laughed and shook his head. Nico found himself smiling. He didn’t push it away this time.

“I don’t know Nico, _do_ you? We gotta delve into these facts together, my _dear_ friend,” Jason teased, settling down on his stomach. The cave became silent as the MP3 processed the next song.

And a [familiar guitar tune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy0AmZu3xLg) sprung up from the speakers beside them. Nico gave an involuntary snort as Jason tried to look offended.

That grin definitely did not look offended enough. Jason was going to have to take acting classes from Drew Tanaka now. “Jason Mraz is a _great_ singer, okay?” Jason defended when Nico gave him a look, and just like that, Nico was laughing.

“I didn’t say _anything_ ,” Nico threw back at him. He was supposed to sound kind of annoyed but it just came out unconvincing as his laughs died down.

There was a pause between them and the music as the first verse started. Jason breathed in, sheepish grin on his face. Nico tried not to brace himself. “ _Well, you done done me, and you bet I felt it…”_ Jason started singing, both extremely enthusiastic _and_ off-key.

Nico couldn’t fucking believe it. _The_ Jason Grace, son of Zeus, brother of Thalia Grace, former praetor of New Rome, slayer of Krios, a hero of Olympus, and two years older than Nico di Angelo, could _not_ sing for the life of him.

Nico _swore_ that he didn’t giggle but he was too busy being incredibly amused by this fact that he really couldn’t help himself and Jason’s face was so _pink_.

“ _I tried to be chill but you're so hot that I melted,_ ” Jason continued, closing his eyes, trying not to laugh. He shook his head while Nico just gaped at him.

The next two lines, Jason mumbled the lyrics to the song and _really_ tried to stay with the tune. Nico laughed again. Jason _clearly_ didn’t know the lyrics to this old-ass pop song. He could _not_ believe it.

“ _Before the cool dawn run out, I'll be giving it my bestest…_ ” Nico continued the next verse for him, you know, to save him from the embarrassment of not knowing the lyrics to a really old pop song. Jason’s eyes widened and then suddenly he was grinning like a doofus.

 They sang together ‘til the chorus. By the last line, Jason was shouting over the music and Nico had begun laughing instead of singing. “Dude! That was fucking awesome!” Jason exclaimed excitedly over the music. “You were great! Man, I _told you_ that you had what Will didn’t!”

Nico sat up and lowered the volume on the speakers before turning it off properly. He grabbed at Jason’s arm and started pulling weakly, “Alright, alright. C’mon. Let’s stop with your horrible singing and compliments, Grace.”

Jason sat up, pout and teasing ready on his lips before something croaked between them. Nico’s stomach, on cue, growled loudly again. Nico felt the heat creep up on his face while Jason just blinked.

 He let go of Jason’s arm and went to stand up by himself. “Yeah, let’s, uh, get something to eat,” he muttered as he offered his hand out to Jason. He had never _ever_ hated his body more than now.

Jason nodded, took his hand, and stood to his feet. “You think the Stolls have some brownies in stock? I feel like it’s a brownies night tonight,” he asked.

“You trust in the Stolls _that_ much, huh. What are the chances of them not putting something in the stocks for fun?”

“You make an excellent point. I’m just gonna ask Percy to get me some before he comes back from Manhattan tomorrow morning.”

***

At dinner, they disregarded the rules entirely. Everyone pretended not to notice. Nico and Jason have saved the world enough to earn that privilege, right? Plus, it’s not like their siblings were here to sit with anyway.

For a conversation starter, Nico decided to tell Jason about his exploits in shadow-traveling.

“So, I was at China, right? I was just visiting Venice after the war and Hermes kinda owed me a trip since he promised after a mission I did for him,” that was, of course, a lie. Hermes owed him a trip because Percy turned him a good favor, with the help of Nico. But he wasn’t gonna dump that on Jason in the middle of dinner. It didn’t make for good conversation.

“A few days into the visit, I was about ready to go back to LA. The old di Angelo estate wasn’t there anymore and neither were my favorite bakeries. Well, except for that one fancy restaurant my mother used to bring us to after church,” Nico started, chewing on… whatever the camp served for the evening. He had no idea what it was but he wasn’t complaining.

“So, I jumped and landed in China. Hermes was about done giving me favors but he didn’t tell me why. Or if the favor expired. Of course, I didn’t _know_ I was in China. I landed in a museum. Shit-ton of spirits. Then, a guard came up to me.”

“I’m assuming that’s how you found out you were in China,” Jason laughed, taking a sip from his cup.

“You have the correct assumption. I didn’t know what in Hera’s name he was saying. I didn’t speak a _lick_ of Chinese,” Nico chuckled, taking a sip from his own cup. “It was closing hours too, the ghosts didn’t seem to mind me being there, though they kept their distance. I decided ‘meh, I can use some sleep, no one’s here to tell me otherwise, right?’ So the guard caught me, probably a few minutes after and started his concerned and probably suspicious Chinese rambling.

“I told him I didn’t understand, so he started speaking in English. Slower.” Nico remembered the concerned look on the guard’s face. “He asked if I was okay, if I got locked in the restrooms or something. Because, he thought he checked, really. I lied and told him, yeah, I got locked in one of the stalls that had a faulty lock, but when I got out, the exits were locked so I decided to camp in.”

Nico had to stop mid-story telling as Jason broke out into laughter. He blinked as Jason tried to hold down his giggles (yes, Jason Grace _giggles_ ). “Was it… something I said?”

Jason shook his head, struggling for composure. “It’s just, now some Chinese dude thinks you got lost and locked up in a bathroom stall in a museum. And made him think that you thought camping inside a museum ‘til morning was the best course of action.”

Nico rolled his eyes and kicked at Jason’s feet. Jason was still laughing. Nico leaned away from the table, arms crossed. “You want me to continue this story or not? I’m content on just standing up and leaving you hear, if that’s the case.”

Jason held his hands up in surrender, trying to slow his breathing. “Alright, alright. Okay, continue, if you may, Mr. di Angelo.”

Nico mock-glared for a few seconds before nodding and leaning forward. “So I _politely_ asked him for his name while he escorted me to an exit. His name is Chen. He has a wife and a daughter, and that was his first week on the security job. I told him my name, and that they had a lot of spirits walking around in the building.”

“Probably not the best thing to say to the night shift, dude,” Jason stated with a teasing smile. Nico just snorted and shrugged.

“I was, what, thirteen? I had the social skills of a daisy. Sue me.” Nico deadpanned, taking a sip of his drink. “Anyway, he told me that he’s had his suspicions but his work buddies didn’t believe him. I mean, museums are always surrounded by spirits, right? Especially considering how long China’s been standing as a country with a well-organized culture. So, he escorted me to the exit and I thanked him. We told each other to be careful and went our separate ways.”

Jason shook his head in disbelief. “Dude, that’s like, the first time I’ve heard about a mortal not _laughing_ about the idea of spirits.”

“China’s a different country, it has different beliefs,” Nico remarked. He swung his legs under the table unconsciously.

“Did you ever visit him again?” Jason asked, out of genuine curiosity. Nico played with his food, avoiding eye contact.

“I did, maybe four months since you disappeared from New Rome? I took some money from the funds my father keeps giving me and headed out for China to thank Chen. I gave him all I had in my pockets with a note saying thank you, and some spirit advice. I put it in his uniform pocket,” Nico smiled at the memory. He wondered whatever happened to the old man. Wondered if he ever spoke about the weird kid he found sleeping in the museum floor.

A comfortable silence settled around their table as dinner ended and the campfire started. Nico dumped the rest of his food into the fire and prayed to Hestia. No harm in contacting _some_ of his old friends.

“You staying for the campfire this time?” Jason’s voice brought him out of… whatever he was doing. Oh, right, he was staring at the bonfire at the distance. He looked up at Jason, then glanced around to the people making their way toward the amphitheater.

“Maybe next time,” Nico responded. Jason nodded, looking a little unsure. Nico gave him a light shove towards the amphitheater.

That night, he dreamed about the chill air of China, the warm smell of freshly baked bread coming down the streets of Venice, and the sound of a fire crackling in the fireplace.

He woke up early in the morning, drowning in memories and the thought that he’s not allowed to go and visit those places as freely as he had before. Power restrictions aside, he _has_ to stay here. He still had to get used to that idea.

* * *

 

Nico’s schedule was chaotic and extremely hard to read. Much like his life. Even if it was in Greek, he wasn’t focused, he wasn’t grounded. He literally spent the whole of breakfast staring at his table. People _saw_ that.

At least he found an extra black tank top from his cabin’s drawers that morning. _Score_. He needed some fresh air. And probably some new pants.

First class was archery. Which was perfect because he could _definitely_ hit a target if he wasn’t focused. Yeah, who the fuck _made_ this schedule anyway? Nico didn’t remember ever having made something _this_ horrible. Well, excluding some decisions he’s made in his life.

But what better way to make his day worse than to have the children of Apollo teaching it, right? Guh, why didn’t Chiron just take his shift today? Nico’s sure the old centaur could use a break but this was _completely_ inconvenient timing. Un-fucking-fair.

Nico prayed to every god (and goddess) he knew as he dumped the rest of his small breakfast into a fire. _End this day as fast as fucking possible_ , was his mantra.

And so, he set to stretching his limbs as the first hour began. He might as well suffer through the day without pulling a muscle, right?

A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his trance (he’s been having a lot of those since last night). Nico looked over his shoulder to find curly brown hair, blue eyes, and Travis Stoll (it was obviously Travis, the dimple on his right cheek was a dead giveaway) looming over him.

“’Sup Neeks, didn’t know we had archery together!” He greeted cheerily. Nico wondered if he could absorb that cheeriness from the Travis’s shadow. Was that even possible?

“Don’t call me ‘Neeks’, Travis,” Nico deadpanned as he stretched his arms over his head. The silence that followed unnerved him. A Stoll has never been known to shut their damn mouth, not even around secluded and hostile children of Hades. Nico dropped his arms to his side and looked at Travis, an annoyed look on his face.

Travis stared back, brows furrowed in thought.

“What?” Nico asked, sounding more unnerved than irritated.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what, stretching? Spit it out already. And stop staring at me,” Nico grumbled, leaning down to pick up his assigned bow and quiver.

“No, man, I already _know_ how to stretch. I’m asking how you knew it was me and not Connor. It’s a very common mistake, when we’re not together,” Travis answered, already pulling his arm back to aim at a target.

Nico mimicked his pose and aimed for a target. His shoulders locked. Satisfied with his aim, he let go.  “Well, I’m as far from common as you can get, Travis. For your curiosity’s sake, it’s something subtle. It’s something on your face.”

Target hit. Just a few inches off the middle. Nico clenched and unclenched his hand before removing his ring and pocketing it. Should’ve done that earlier.

Travis rubbed at his face, letting go of his arrow for a moment. “Are you trying to make me think I have something on my face?”

Nico stared blankly at him before picking up Travis’s arrow and handing it to him. Travis shrugged and grabbed it from him, before going back to aiming.

“By the sound of it, you’re trying really hard to keep me from finding out my own tells, Nico. I mean, I’m taller than Connor but that’s the only reference people have,” Travis muttered as he let go of his arrow. He hit a sword dummy a few yards away from the shooting range, straight at its crotch.

“That isn’t the target you’re supposed to be shooting at,” Nico commented.

“Your _face_ isn’t the target I’m supposed to be shooting at,” Travis retorted, with that crooked grin on his face, then he started walking off. To get some _actual_ archery practice, Nico assumed. “Anyway, I gotta watch out for you, man. I’m gonna find out how you do it, sooner or later.”

Once the older demigod was out of earshot, Nico bent down to grab another arrow. “Give or take, three hours. That’s how long he’s gonna take,” He muttered to himself as he pulled back his arm to aim again.

Nico continued his practice. He ignored his fellow campers and they did so too. As far as he could tell, Solace wasn’t in for archery today. _Let it stay that way for the rest of the week_ , he thought to himself. He tuned out the shouting of some of the appointed advisors for the day and worked on his aim.

What brought him out of the repetitive _aim, let go, get arrow_ routine was the shrill shriek of a bell that signified the end of the first hour. His shoulder and elbows ached like _hell_. He really should stop zoning out while doing something that could potentially injure him. He wouldn’t want another trip to the infirmary.

___

Nico hesitantly held his hand up as the camper triumphantly slapped his hand on his. His shoulders _hurt_ as in _really hurt_ and now so do his wrists. Who the fuck put volleyball in his schedule anyway?

He wasn’t lucky enough to just get Arts and Crafts instead. Or to get picked as sub. He _had_ to be in the team because “bruh, he like, _saved the world_! He _has_ to be on the team! Plus! He has killer arms, do you see those?!” Needless to say, Hedge, who was playing coach, highly recommended him either way, so he had _no_ way out of the deal.

Needless to say, the team captain was already desperate since they were going up against three Apollo kids, an Ares kid, and a Nike kid. Shit was _bound_ to be intense.

Nico sighed as he gathered up his stuff. He was five minutes late for Greek Mythology class. Why did he have to go to Greek Mythology class, he already knew a lot!

As he was trudging up into the Arts and Crafts building (where most of the indoor classes usually happened), Percy stopped him by the door. What the son of Poseidon was doing there, he almost didn’t want to know. If it wasn’t for the concerned expression that he had on his face, Nico would have thought he was doing a ‘pay the Stoll fee’ kind of thing where he asks a demigod for five bucks.

“Hey, Nico, ha— _whoa_ , you look like a herd of pegasii just ran over you. Are you okay?” Percy asked, but Nico was sure that his appearance wasn’t what he was concerned about before.

“I know I look like shit, Percy. Don’t patronize me,” Nico grumbled. He tried for a glare but he kind of felt drained after that last match. “What do you want?”

Percy blinked. Probably at his tired hostility, but he snapped out of it. “Oh, yeah, uh. Have you seen Annabeth?”

Nico huffed, “The power couple, not together? What’s the goddess of love cooking up _this_ time?” The sarcastic tone was not appreciated however, as Percy gave him a disapproving frown. He rolled his eyes. “No, I haven’t seen Annabeth.”

Percy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I-if you help me look for her, I’ll give you a pass from Grover’s class,” he stated. Then, he looked Nico up and down, which he did _not_ appreciate. “And probably some new clothes. When was the last time you changed pants, dude?”

“That’s none of your business, Jackson. You’re just lucky that I don’t want to go to Greek Mythology class anyway,” Nico grumbled before trudging back down the hill.

“And tell her to meet me at the amphitheater!” Percy shouted over his shoulder.

He stopped in the middle of the Arts and Crafts building and the volleyball court then closed his eyes. The thing with sensing souls was that you needed to _concentrate_. Why was he so _willing_ to exert energy for this anyway? Percy Jackson can go find his girlfriend himself!

He opened his eyes to look back at the steps of the building to find nothing. Percy was probably _already_ looking for his girlfriend. He wouldn’t have went to ask for help if he could do it by himself, right?

With a sigh, he closed his eyes and searched through every flicker of soul in Long Island Sound. He found Annabeth’s soul, not far, just by Half-Blood Hill. Nico wondered if Percy really was looking for her. That didn’t even take more than five minutes.

Nico swore, if Percy was just asking for an easy way out of his problems, he’s gonna pay for it. That and for going easy on him in that last sparring match.

When he reaches Thalia’s tree, he spots not one, but two blondes down the hill. Annabeth was there, chatting with the younger blonde. She had straight hair, an orange streak by her bangs, and was wearing a brown jacket, skinny jeans, and boots. She also had a motorcycle and a satchel with her. Why she wore a jacket during the summer was practically over his head.

“Annabeth!” Nico called out, jogging down the hill. He ignored the way that his back and upper limbs practically screamed at him to _stop moving_.

Annabeth whipped around to see him jogging up to her. She clutched at her laptop. “N-Nico! Hey, uh, what’re you doing here?”

“Could ask you the same thing,” Nico deadpanned. He glanced at the other blonde, who was kind of off-putting with the way she stared at him, but put his attention on the one he knew. “Percy’s looking for you. Says to meet him at the amphitheater.”

“And he didn’t do it himself, why?” The other blonde, obviously British, asked.

“I would ask _him_ the same thing if he didn’t give me a free pass from Greek Mythology with Grover,” Nico retorted with a roll of his eyes.

Annabeth huffed, “I’ll have a word with him about free pass hand-outs. _This_ ,” she lifted her laptop, “will have to wait.”

Nico nodded and looked to the other blonde. “I’m Nico, by the way,” he said.

“Figured that out already. I’m Sadie, and I should be going,” she said, glancing at Annabeth. They gave each other looks and Nico felt like he just missed an entire conversation. When that was over, they both nodded.

“Dearest brother awaits. And, if you see anything embarrassing Carter left on your laptop? Send it to me, if you will,” she said with a smirk as she put on her helmet.

When Sadie took off, Nico looked to Annabeth, who was already turning around to escape.

“Yeah, Chase,” Nico muttered under his breath as he turned to climb the hill too. “I thank me for informing you about where to look for your boyfriend _and_ looking for you for him too. I thank me for the effort even though I look like shit too. No biggie.”

As Annabeth set off for the amphitheater, Nico made his way towards the Big House. He promptly collapsed on the porch. He needed a five-hour nap. Screw lunch, he can skip.

***

“Glad you could join us, Nico,” Jason whispered to him as their group gathered around near the strawberry fields. “Almost thought you were skipping out.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Just because you found me collapsed on the porch of the Big House, doesn’t give you the right of deciding whether or not I’m ‘skipping out’.”

Jason smirked at his statement but didn’t bother him anymore, as the hour started. The Hecate kid, Holly, she introduced herself, was one of the best teachers of their fine group of 9 to 13 year old batch of greenhorns.

“Guys, I’m sure you’ve heard of them. The one in the glasses is Jason Grace, the one with the dopey grin is Percy Jackson, and the one in the tanktop is Nico di Angelo,” she said, walking around the group. “They’ll be trying to teach you to control your powers, if you have any problems with those. If you have a problem with _them_ ,” she said, pointing at the three of them. Nico blinked. “Go tell Chiron, and they’ll be off the hook immediately and I can go back to teaching y’all.”

Holly grinned, showing off her braces as she walked pass the three demigods. “Good luck, dudes,” she muttered. Nico turned to look at her but she was already gone. Like the fucking mist.

Two claps sounded in the awkward air as Percy stepped forward. “Alright, we’re as new to this as you are, guys. Let’s start with… hm,” he paused and Nico _knew_ it was for effect. Did they _plan_ this?

He rolled his eyes. “Jason!” Percy called out, “what do _you_ think we should talk about?”

Jason blinked, “Wha—me? Don’t f—don’t pass the spotlight on me all of a sudden!” Oh, so they _didn’t_ plan this and Percy was just being a douche. Great.

Nico raised a finger, which earned Percy’s attention, “How about we start with them telling us what they can’t do and we offer our best commentary?”

“Uh,” Percy said, and it was probably his most intelligent statement of the day. He turned to the crowd of kids. “Yeah! What he said, guys.”

Nico felt like if he rolled his eyes again, they’d fall out of his head (which were not supposed to be doing that) so he just settled with crossing his arms and grunting incoherently.

A hand shot up. A young freckled, brown haired boy, stood hesitantly. He looked like he just regretted his action. Nico let up some, and listened.

“I, uh, my dad—he’s Dionysus and, uh. I messed up,” he stammered. The kids around him giggled and his face turned red. “I—I’m Carl and I have a little problem with… vines.”

As if on cue, leaves began rustling behind the group as a couple of strawberry vines crept toward Carl from the fields. Nico, Jason, and Percy took the moment to look at each other.

“Did Pollux leave for the summer? How old is he?” asked Nico.

“Didn’t bother to know, he’s probably at summer school though,” shrugged Percy.

“Well, he’s not here right now, so, comments?” prompted Jason.

And thus ended their little meeting. Jason and Percy made no moves to either talk or to calm the kid down, so Nico had to take responsibility. Later, they’re both gonna make up excuses about how they ‘didn’t do well with kids’ or some shit. _Typical_.

Nico took a step forward, and the group of kids let him pass as he walked toward the Dionysus kid who looked scared shitless at the fact that there were vines growing around his feet. _He’s lucky that those aren’t shadows_ , he thought but he dismissed the thought. Carl’s struggle was just as difficult as his were.

“Carl, what calms you down?” Nico asked, as gentle as he could without sounding borderline condescending. “Don’t think about the plants, just think about what calms you down.”

Carl squeezed his eyes shut, as Nico crouched in front of him. The kids swarmed them, but left maybe a few feet of space around them. Slowly, the vines crept back to the fields.

“That’s rule number one, guys,” Nico looked around the group. “Don’t let your emotions get to you. Your powers will respond to benefit you, but not in the way you want it.”

A moment of silence passed as the statement sank in, and then Jason clapped his hands. “Alright! Anyone else have issues?”

***

“And then, when Piper went to look for him, she said she found him in his room. On the ceiling,” Nico snickered as Jason hit his arm affectionately. The group burst into laughter and Percy was pretty much clutching his gut, leaning into Jason.

“Yeah, well, two can play it that game,” Jason squinted at him. Nico didn’t even feel remotely threatened.

“Hey!” someone called out. Simultaneously, the group turned to look. Holly walked up to the group, cheeks smeared with red paint. Or something else.

“The hour ended like, thirty minutes ago,” Holly announced. The group gave out a resounding _aww_ , Jason being the loudest.

“Oh, don’t be a buncha babies, you have enough time for the rest of the week,” Holly rolled her eyes. The group went to stand, some stopping to stretch their legs. Percy slapped Nico on the back, causing a reflexive elbow to the gut.

“Ow,” Percy whispered, “uh, great work today, partner. Probably couldn’t have started that without you.”

Nico snorted, “You owe me a lot, Jackson. But that isn’t something I’m taking credit for.”

“You’re too modest, Nico,” Jason commented as they walked aimlessly around camp. “Take the compliment.”

Nico took a moment to look at both of them before sighing. “Which reminds me, you _assholes_ ,” he started. Percy and Jason took a second to wince. “Complimenting me isn’t gonna push aside the fact that _I_ was the one who had to start the whole thing. What’s the deal with you guys? I’m supposed to be the anti-social emo kid!”

“Well, at least you handled it perfectly, right?” Percy asked with an uncertain smile. Nico gave him the driest look he could muster.

“Look, Nico,” Jason started, guilt evident in his tone. “That wasn’t our shining moment. Me and Percy, we’re leaders, or well, _were_ leaders, in my case. We’re not… the greatest with handling kids. Thankfully, you were there.”

“Yeah, what he said!” Percy shouted, which earned him a glare from both Jason and Nico. “I mean, yeah, uh. I’ll just shut up now.”

Jason huffed before turning back to Nico. “Look, we’re sorry okay. We just needed a little, warming up that’s all.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say, Clark.” Jason laughed at that.

* * *

 

TIME SKIP: TWO WEEKS

“So, how was New Rome? Anything I should know about?” asked Jason as he sat on the floor of cabin 13. Nico put his suitcase down on the bed, making a face at how the fact that it was heavier than when he originally packed it. Did Hazel give him extra clothes?

He sat down his bed and sighed. “The revolution or overthrow talk died down, whatever the fuck you call it. Frank’s less stressed now that that’s over.”

“That’s good then. What about the others?”

Nico stared at the ceiling of his cabin and hummed in thought. “Reyna and Rachel are… something. They’re not official yet, but it’s so fucking obvious, I don’t know why they think it’s such a huge deal.”

Jason leaned in, “Reyna and Rachel? Really? Wow,” he laughed. “I didn’t see that coming. Didn’t really get to chat with her last time. I should soon.”

“You fucking better,” Nico muttered under his breath. “How’ve the kids from Powers Control been?”

“Oh, uh, Piper filled in,” Jason started. “They learned a fuck ton, but turns out, she wasn’t as good with the kids as you were.”

Nico snorted. “That’s not a surprise,” he muttered sarcastically.

“Hey, you really are good with kids, you should accept that,” Jason scolded.

“Yes, mom,” Nico retorted. Jason stuck his tongue out, out of spite and childishness. Nico mimicked him.

“Anyway, Hazel gave me a teaching plan for this week,” Nico said, swinging his legs unconsciously.

“Speaking of which. How’d the thing with Hazel go?” Jason asked, suddenly solemn.

“It went… not as expected. You’re right, Romans really don’t care much about that stuff. She said she was glad that I told her,” Nico said, suddenly feeling warm inside. He’d thought she was gonna shun him out for about a week but no, she was so understanding about it.

Jason chuckled, “I told you so.”

“Yeah, yeah, get over yourself, Clark,” Nico said, with the roll of his eyes.

“Hey, I’ve had my share of Superman jokes from Percy within the last week already!”

A knock on the door stopped them from their antics. Nico stood to open the door.

Outside the door of the Hades Cabin, stood Will Solace, casual camp clothes and slippers, and a look of faltering determination. Nico wouldn’t let this sour his mood so, he just blinked and said, “What?”

“Could I—no, probably not, ugh,” Solace sighed and fidgeted and Nico was kind of enjoying how nervous he was. “I just wanted to say sorry. For last time. And the times before that,” he said, rather genuinely too. Nico raised a brow at this.

“Who put you up to this? Ellen? Cecil?” he asked, leaning on the doorframe. He was vaguely aware of Jason just watching from behind him.

“Both of them, actually. B-but! I was gonna do it anyway,” Solace stammered. He sighed, “Look, I could’ve done this a week ago, probably the day after you told me to fuck off, but I chickened out. I’m sorry about that too.”

He put his weight on his other foot, barely looking at Nico as he talked. “I-I get that my apology is probably the last thing you want to hear but, I _honestly_ felt like shit because you were right, you didn’t owe me anything and I shouldn’t have shoved my opinions at you. I’m _really_ fucking sorry about that so, I hope there’s no hard feelings there.” He took a moment to breathe. “A-at least nothing too hard, I suppose,” he added.

“Would it kill you to stop touching me, then? That really ticks me off,” Nico asked.

“It really does,” Jason piped up from behind him. Nico glared at him. Jason shrugged.

“I’ll try, but it comes with the job, kinda,” Solace lowered his head. “I’ll keep it professional then.”

Nico stood there, staring at him, giving nothing away. When Solace raised his head to look him in the eye, he said, “Apology accepted then.”

Solace blinked, Nico _swore_ he saw tears. “W-what, just like that?”

“What do you want from me, a death sentence? I can’t just give those away, Solace,” Nico deadpanned.

“Quit joking! I was a real dick to you!” Solace insisted, looking a bit pained.

Nico crossed his arms and stared at him. “Look, I honestly don’t know what you expect from me. You were a dick, and to be honest, I kinda was too. You already learned your lesson. If you wanted me to kick your ass about it, you could have come here to insult my mother some more or punch me. But you didn’t, so I won’t.”

Solace squeezed his eyes shut and sighed. Nico glared up at him. “If you apologize one more time, you’re _asking_ for an ass-kicking, lemme tell you.”

Solace winced then forced out a laugh. “Alright then, we straight?”

“I’m not,” Nico muttered, almost reflexively.

“Ahaha, yeah,” Solace chuckled, then froze. “Wait, what?”

“You got a problem with that?” Jason asked from behind them. Nico didn’t even bother to shut him up.

“None at all,” Solace raised his hands in surrender, laughing nervously. “I just didn’t expect it.”

“Yeah, well, get used to it,” Nico intervened. “I’m gonna have to tell everyone now, for sure.”

“Why?” both blonds asked. Nico rolled his eyes. He didn’t know why he even bothered.

“Because I just said that with the fucking door open! Don’t you guys pay _any_ attention, the walls here have ears for fuck’s sake!” Nico snapped.

Solace laughed, “Oh, yeah, that’ll be something.”

“I almost forgot about that,” Jason frowned.

Nico sighed, “You guys are the fucking worst, I don’t know why I hang around with you people.”

 


End file.
